Placental Growth Factor in First Trimester of Pregnancy for Prediction of Maternal and Perinatal Adverse Outcomes

Purpose of the study Placental growth factor (PLGF) is an angiogenic factor in pregnancy. To find out correlation of plasma levels of placental growth factor in first trimester of pregnancy in Indian women who develop maternal and perinatal adverse outcomes was the aim of the study. Methods A prospective longitudinal noninterventional study was done in the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology after obtaining ethics approval. After enrolling patients in the first trimester (11 weeks to 13 weeks 6 days), a questionnaire was filled for demographic characteristics. Uterine artery doppler was done for every patient and blood sample (5 ml) was taken by venu puncture of median cubital vein. Serum levels of PLGF were measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay using Thermo Scientific Pierce Human PLGF kit (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc., Waltham, MA, USA). Patients were followed for their whole antenatal period and delivery outcomes. Results Incidence of preeclampsia in our study was 9.3% (15/161) and fetal growth restriction (FGR) was 19.8% (32/161). Neither BMI nor nulliparity was found to have statistically significant correlation with development of preeclampsia. However, history of preeclampsia was found to be significant risk factor for prediction of preeclampsia ( p value < 0.04). Plasma levels of PLGF were significantly lower in preeclampsia and FGR group and this difference was statistically significant ( p value < 0.04). 7.5% still born occurred in complicated group and 10% needed NNU/NICU admission in this group. Conclusion Measuring PLGF levels in first trimester of pregnancy can help in prediction of preeclampsia and FGR.