Preeclampsia: Understanding the need of early detection for safer pregnancy
Preeclampsia is a hypertensive disease that occurs during pregnancy. It’s a serious medical condition that affects 2–8% of pregnancies worldwide, resulting in 50,000 maternal deaths, and over 500,000 fetal deaths[1].
In India, 1 in 11 women suffer from hypertensive disorders [2], primarily caused by placental dysregulation. This is when the placenta, which provides nourishment to the baby, doesn’t develop properly because of issues with the blood vessels supplying it. Apart from this, there are several other risk factors including advanced maternal age (>35 years), in-vitro fertilization, family history of placental abruption, preeclampsia in a previous pregnancy and more.
The current medical management scenario for preeclampsia includes blood pressure monitoring and seizure prevention through medications. Delaying the fetus delivery in such scenarios increases the risk of complications and associated death for fetus and mother. Hence, early detection and immediate management are essential to prevent morbidity and mortality.
To raise awareness of the disorder, its prevention, and treatment, May 22 is observed as World Preeclampsia Day.
It is a call to various local and government healthcare authorities and policymakers to promote the required measures to combat preeclampsia.
Innovative Approach to Screen Preeclampsia
Intignus Biotech Pvt Ltd, a women-led company is focussed on developing ingenious products for early screening and detection. Their innovation, PE Screen (Preeclampsia Screening Test), is a specific, sensitive, visual, test for preeclampsia screening.
Dr Vaishnavi Kulkarni, the founder of Intignus Biotech Pvt Ltd says, “The innovation can help delineate moderate and high-risk patients. Moreover, the test is rapid and at 1/3rd of the current testing cost, making it affordable for routine monitoring of pregnant women.”
The device acts as a screening test for pregnant women and can predict preeclampsia development in the upcoming weeks of gestation. This is done based on the circulating levels of a placenta-specific biomarker. The device works by using one or two drops of the mother’s blood and can be performed during routine monitoring visits with the gynaecologist.
The beneficiaries include women, especially from the economically weaker sections and those residing in rural India with inadequate facilities for health monitoring. The device also helps doctors, healthcare workers (e.g. ASHA workers) and primary healthcare centres to monitor patients’ health, and avoid PE-induced mortality and morbidity.
According to Dr Aishwarya Deshpande from Gupte Hospital, Pune, the PE Screen can be helpful to prevent premature births. “If the test can predict the risk of PE development in women early on, say by or before 16th week of gestation — it has a significant clinical advantage in preventing preterm PE and hence premature births.”
Villgro supports affordable, accessible and quality healthcare innovations like Intignus and Janitri that offer fetal and maternal health monitoring solutions to reduce the death rates among newborns and mothers during pregnancy and post-delivery.
If you are a startup or an entrepreneur working in this domain, reach out to us at info@villgro.org.
References :
- Gestational Hypertension and Preeclampsia: ACOG Practice Bulletin, Number 222. Obstet Gynecol. 2020 Jun;135(6):e237-e260.
- (PDF) Prevalence of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy in India: A systematic review and meta-analysis (researchgate.net)
