Encouraging early trials into pre-eclampsia treatment

A pilot study has been conducted into a new form of management for women experiencing pre-eclampsia and the results appear to be very encouraging.   The trial was conducted with just 11 women, all of whom had very preterm pre-eclampsia (between 23 to 32 weeks’ gestation).  The procedure involves removing a particular protein from the blood of women through a process called apheresis and it was hoped that this would reduce the likelihood of women going into preterm labour.  Results, when compared to an untreated control group, are positive as the pregnancies continued an average of 8 days and 15 days in women treated once and multiple times, respectively, compared with just 3 days in the untreated women.  Also, no major adverse effects of apheresis were observed.  The study authors recommend further research to be done in this area.

Ravi Thadhani, the study’s lead author said: “Our pilot study suggests we can safely prolong pregnancy when we target removal of sFlt-1 in women with severe preterm pre-eclampsia, and we hope this is confirmed in randomized trials. Prolonging pregnancy allows the baby to mature, markedly reducing complications.”

Read the research abstract here

An RCM summary can be viewed here