A recently completed randomised controlled trial evaluated the real life performance and clinical utility of the Roche Elecsys sFlt-1/PlGF ratio test in the guidance of admission of patients with suspicion of pre-eclampsia (PE), a life-threatening condition in pregnant women.
Observational clinical studies published in 2016 documented the benefits that the use of the sFlt-1/PlGF blood test ratio could offer to patients, clinicians and the NHS. The studies show that the ratio test can provide clinically useful information on the risk of impending danger to mother and fetus.
Hypertensive disorders such as PE, as characterised by hypertrophic decidual vasculopathy (pictured), currently affect approximately 13.5% of pregnancies in the UK and it is estimated that as many as 80,000 pregnant women are investigated for suspected PE. Before the test was made available, treatment guidelines recommended that all women presenting with hypertension and proteinuria should be considered for admission to hospital for monitoring, although most would not go on to develop the condition. This unnecessary hospitalisation of women caused undue stress and anxiety for mothers, as well as significant costs to hospitals and the NHS.
The ratio test, offered by Roche Diagnostics, is recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to rule out women at risk. The test allows healthcare professionals to conduct a simple blood test and determine whether or not an individual patient will develop PE over the next week, with 99.3% accuracy (95% confidence interval [CI], 97.9–99.9).