Preeclampsia and its prediction: traditional versus contemporary predictive methods

Preeclampsia (PE) poses a significant threat to maternal and perinatal health, so its early prediction, prevention, and management are of paramount importance to mitigate adverse pregnancy outcomes. This article provides a brief review spanning epidemiology, etiology, pathophysiology, and risk factors associated with PE, mainly discussing the emerging role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) deep learning (DL) technology in predicting PE, to advance the understanding of PE and foster the clinical application of early prediction methods.

Our narrative review comprehensively examines the PE epidemiology, etiology, pathophysiology, risk factors and predictive approaches, including traditional models and AI deep learning technology.

Preeclampsia involves a wide range of biological and biochemical risk factors, among which poor uterine artery remodeling, excessive immune response, endothelial dysfunction, and imbalanced angiogenesis play important roles. Traditional PE prediction models exhibit significant limitations in sensitivity and specificity, particularly in predicting late-onset PE, with detection rates ranging from only 30% to 50%. AI models have exhibited a notable level of predictive accuracy and value across various populations and datasets, achieving detection rates of approximately 70%. Particularly, they have shown superior predictive capabilities for late-onset PE, thereby presenting novel opportunities for early screening and management of the condition.

AI DL technology holds promise in revolutionizing the prediction and management of PE. AI-based approaches offer a pathway toward more effective risk assessment methods by addressing the shortcomings of traditional prediction models. Ongoing research efforts should focus on expanding databases and validating the performance of AI in diverse populations, leading to the development of more sophisticated prediction models with improved accuracy.