Angiogenic markers during preeclampsia: Are they associated with hypertension 1 year postpartum?

Preeclampsia is associated with hypertension in later life, but the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms remain uncertain. We aimed to explore whether the angiogenic markers soluble Fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt-1) and placental growth factor (PlGF) measured in women with preeclampsia could be associated with hypertension 1 year after delivery.

This is a secondary analysis of a prospective cohort study, originally aimed to evaluate the use of sFlt-1/PlGF ratio to predict adverse outcome in women with (suspected) preeclampsia. Office blood pressure (BP) was evaluated at 1 year postpartum in women who had a confirmed diagnosis of preeclampsia within one week of biomarker measurement.

Eighty women were included with a median (interquartile range) gestational age (GA) at biomarker measurement of 30 (27-33) weeks. Twenty-three (29%) women had hypertension 1 year postpartum. These women showed higher median SBP during their pregnancy and lower GA at PE diagnosis compared to women without hypertension. Median PlGF levels were lower in women with hypertension 1 year postpartum compared to women without hypertension (23 vs. 48 pg/mL, p = 0.017), while no differences in sFlt-1 or sFlt-1/PlGF ratio were observed. Multivariable analysis adjusted for GA did not show significant association between PlGF (nor sFlt-1, sFlt-1/PlGF ratio) and hypertension 1 year postpartum (OR [95% CI] 0.9 [0.2-4.4], p = 0.97).

Our data indicate that sFlt-1, PlGF or their ratio measured during pregnancy are not suitable for the prediction of hypertension 1 year postpartum and hence guiding follow-up of women with previous preeclampsia.