Ophthalmic artery Doppler in combination with other biomarkers in prediction of pre-eclampsia at 19-23 weeks' gestation.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the potential value of maternal ophthalmic artery Doppler at 19-23 weeks' gestation on its own and in combination with the established biomarkers of pre-eclampsia (PE), including uterine artery (UtA) pulsatility index (PI), mean arterial pressure (MAP), serum placental growth factor (PlGF) and serum soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt-1), in the prediction of subsequent development of PE.

METHODS

This was a prospective observational study of women attending for a routine hospital visit at 19 + 1 to 23 + 3 weeks' gestation. This visit included recording of maternal demographic characteristics and medical history, ultrasound examination for fetal anatomy and growth, assessment of flow velocity waveforms from the maternal ophthalmic arteries, and measurement of MAP, UtA-PI, serum PlGF and serum sFlt-1. Waveforms were obtained from the ophthalmic arteries in sequence from the right eye, left eye and again from the right and then left eye. We recorded the average of the four measurements, two from each eye, for the following four indices: first peak of systolic velocity; second peak of systolic velocity; PI; and the ratio of the second to first peak of systolic velocity (PSV ratio). The measurements of the four indices were standardized to remove the effects of maternal characteristics and elements from the medical history. The competing-risks model was used to estimate the individual patient-specific risks of delivery with PE at < 37 and ≥ 37 weeks' gestation and to determine the area under the receiver-operating-characteristics curve (AUC) and detection rate (DR), at a 10% false-positive rate (FPR), in screening by a combination of maternal demographic characteristics and medical history with biomarkers. The modeled performance of screening for PE was also estimated.

RESULTS

The study population of 2853 pregnancies contained 76 (2.7%) that developed PE, including 18 (0.6%) that delivered with PE at < 37 weeks' gestation. The ophthalmic artery PSV ratio was significantly increased in PE pregnancies, and the PE effect depended on gestational age at delivery; the deviation from normal was greater for early than late PE. The second peak of systolic velocity was also increased in PE pregnancies, but the effect did not depend on gestational age at delivery. The other two ophthalmic artery indices of first peak of systolic velocity and PI were not significantly affected by PE. The PSV ratio improved the prediction of preterm PE provided by maternal factors alone (from 56.1% to 80.2%), maternal factors, MAP and UtA-PI (80.7% to 87.9%), maternal factors, MAP, UtA-PI and PlGF (85.5% to 90.3%) and maternal factors, MAP, UtA-PI, PlGF and sFlt-1 (84.9% to 89.8%), at a FPR of 10%. The PSV ratio also improved the prediction of term PE provided by maternal factors alone (from 33.8% to 46.0%), maternal factors, MAP and UtA-PI (46.6% to 54.2%), maternal factors, MAP, UtA-PI and PlGF (45.2% to 53.4%) and maternal factors, MAP, UtA-PI, PlGF and sFlt-1 (43.0% to 51.2%), at a FPR of 10%. The empirical results for DR at a 10% FPR were consistent with the modeled results. The second peak of systolic velocity did not improve the prediction of either preterm or term PE provided by maternal factors alone.

CONCLUSION

Ophthalmic artery PSV ratio at 19-23 weeks' gestation, both on its own and in combination with other biomarkers, is potentially useful for prediction of subsequent development of PE, especially preterm PE, but larger studies are needed to validate this finding. © 2020 International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology.