Arterial stiffness for the early prediction of pre‐eclampsia compared with blood pressure, uterine artery Doppler and angiogenic biomarkers: a prospective cohort study

Abstract

AbstractObjectiveOur aim was to evaluate the ability of arterial stiffness parameters to predict pre‐eclampsia early compared with peripheral blood pressure, uterine artery Doppler and established angiogenic biomarkers.DesignProspective cohort study.SettingTertiary care antenatal clinics in Montreal, Canada.PopulationWomen with singleton high‐risk pregnancies.MethodsIn the first trimester, arterial stiffness was measured by applanation tonometry, along with peripheral blood pressure and serum/plasma angiogenic biomarkers; uterine artery Doppler was measured in the second trimester. The predictive ability of different metrics was assessed through multivariate logistic regression.Main outcome measuresArterial stiffness (carotid‐femoral pulse wave velocity, carotid‐radial pulse wave velocity) and wave reflection (augmentation index, reflected wave start time), peripheral blood pressure, ultrasound indices of velocimetry and circulating angiogenic biomarker concentrations.ResultsIn this prospective study, among 191 high‐risk pregnant women, 14 (7.3%) developed pre‐eclampsia. A first‐trimester 1 m/s increase in carotid‐femoral pulse wave velocity was associated with 64% increased odds (P < 0.05), and a 1‐millisecond increase in time to wave reflection with 11% decreased odds for pre‐eclampsia (P < 0.01). The area under the curve of arterial stiffness, blood pressure, ultrasound indices and angiogenic biomarkers was 0.83 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.74–0.92), 0.71 (95% CI 0.57–0.86), 0.58 (95% CI 0.39–0.77), and 0.64 (95% CI 0.44–0.83), respectively. With a 5% false‐positive rate, blood pressure had a sensitivity of 14% for pre‐eclampsia and arterial stiffness a sensitivity of 36%.ConclusionsArterial stiffness predicted pre‐eclampsia earlier and with greater ability than blood pressure, ultrasound indices or angiogenic biomarkers.