New blood test ‘will save mums and babies’ lives’ by spotting pre-eclampsia early

RNA sequencing from a single blood sample can now identify the disorder.

Found in 42,000 pregnancies each year in the UK, pre-eclampsia reduces bloodflow through the placenta and can cause premature birth, stillbirth or even the death of the mother.

Among the celebrities affected by the condition are Kim Kardashian, Sophie Ellis- Bextor and Mariah Carey.

Formulated by an international team, the test showed a seven-fold improvement on current methods in highlighting possible pre-eclampsia.

More than three months prior to symptoms, a positive test correctly identified 73 percent of mums whose delivery was complicated by the disorder. The test analyses maternal, foetal, and placental RNA that circulates in the blood.

It finds patterns associated with a risk of pre-eclampsia in 75 percent of cases, and a risk of preterm birth at nearly the same rate.

Study senior author Professor Thomas McElrath, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, US, told Nature journal: “This is an entirely new way of characterising health in pregnancy that hasn’t been available up until now. Early detection of disease using this approach will provide us with the distinct possibility of therapeutically addressing some of these conditions.”

In addition to predicting pre-eclampsia, the technique developed by the team estimated a woman’s progression through pregnancy equally as well as a second trimester ultrasound. And it did better than a third trimester ultrasound.

Prof McElrath added of the work: “While much research is understandably dedicated to diseases that occur at the end of life, this discovery opens up a new set of tools that can be brought to bear on problems that occur at the very beginning of life.

“For those of us in women’s healthcare, it’s very exciting to see advanced innovation.”