The predictive value of placental growth factor combined with uterine ultrasound arterial blood flow characteristics for preeclampsia

Objective: To study the predictive value of placental growth factor (PLGF) combined with uterine ultrasound artery blood flow characteristics in preeclampsia (PE). Methods: The retrospective cohort study included singleton pregnant women who admitted for prenatal examinations at the Yongkang First People’s Hospital between February 2021 to November 2023. Based on whether the pregnant women had PE and the severity of PE, they were divided into Control group, Severe PE group and Mild PE group. Levels of PLGF and ultrasound arterial blood flow parameters were compared between the groups, and the sensitivity and specificity of the above indicators were calculated. Results: This study included one hundred pregnant women with PE in the analysis, with 29 in the Severe PE group and 71 in the Mild PE group. Additionally, 100 healthy pregnant women without PE were included in the control group. Levels of PLGF, resistance index (RI), pulsatility index (PI), and systolic/diastolic blood flow ratio (S/D) were statistically different between the groups (P<0.05). Logistic analysis showed that PLGF, RI, PI, and S/D were risk factors for the onset of PE (P<0.05). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis showed that the combined prediction value of PLGF, RI, PI, and S/D for PE was significantly higher than the individual prediction of each indicator (P<0.05). Conclusions: PE was significantly associated with decreased levels of PLGF and increased RI, PI, and S/D in pregnant women. These indexes can serve as important indicators for predicting the onset of preeclampsia, especially when they are combined. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.41.2.11349 How to cite this: Xiao F, Li C, Wang X, Li J. The predictive value of placental growth factor combined with uterine ultrasound arterial blood flow characteristics for preeclampsia. Pak J Med Sci. 2025;41(2):426-431. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.41.2.11349 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.