Circulating Angiogenic Factors as Harbingers of Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes

Women with lupus and antiphospholipid antibody syndrome have excess risk for adverse pregnancy outcomes such as hypertensive disorders, growth restriction, and stillbirth. Screens for these conditions are expensive and imperfect and may lead to iatrogenic preterm deliveries or cesarean deliveries in women who might not otherwise have had adverse outcomes. Investigators evaluated early second-trimester measurement of angiogenic factors associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes and explored the utility of such assays for predicting such outcomes in women with lupus or antiphospholipid antibodies with or without clinical features of antiphospholipid syndrome.

Severe adverse pregnancy outcomes occurred in 12% of 492 women. Women with marked alt…