PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Routine blood test can identify laboring women at risk for preeclampsia, prompt interventions to protect mom and baby

2024-10-19
(Press-News.org) PHILADELPHIA — A simple blood test could help doctors identify women in labor who are at risk for preeclampsia — a leading cause of maternal death — and take precautions to prevent it, according to research presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY® 2024 annual meeting.

Between 5% and 10% of pregnant women develop preeclampsia (sudden high blood pressure and protein in the urine), according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Black women are 60% more likely to develop preeclampsia than white women, and more likely to die or have serious outcomes such as kidney damage, the CDC notes. While preeclampsia can develop as early as the 20th week of pregnancy, the study focused on identifying women who were at risk for preeclampsia when they were admitted to the hospital in labor.  

Researchers have determined doctors can predict a woman’s risk of developing preeclampsia by calculating the ratio of two blood proteins — fibrinogen and albumin — measured in routine blood tests done when women in labor enter the hospital. Fibrinogen is involved in blood clotting and inflammation, while albumin helps maintain fluid balance and carries hormones, vitamins and enzymes throughout the body. Both can be disrupted with preeclampsia — fibrinogen may be elevated, albumin may be reduced, or both can occur.

There is no universally established normal value for this fibrinogen-to-albumin ratio (FAR), which can range from 0.05 to 1 or higher. Higher FAR values are often associated with increased inflammation, infection or serious health conditions, and the higher the FAR, the greater the concern. This trend has been consistently seen when FAR is used to evaluate other inflammatory conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis, cardiovascular diseases and inflammatory bowel disease.

In the study, researchers analyzed the records of 2,629 women who gave birth between 2018 and 2024, 1,819 who did not have preeclampsia, 584 who had preeclampsia with mild features or symptoms (including blood pressure of 140/90 mm Hg or higher, but no significant signs of organ damage), and 226 who had preeclampsia with severe features or symptoms (including blood pressure of 160/110 mm Hg or higher and signs of organ damage, including severe headaches, high liver enzymes, visual disturbances, low platelet count or kidney impairment). The researchers determined those who had a higher FAR were more likely to develop preeclampsia than those with a lower FAR. They found that the predicted likelihood of developing any degree of preeclampsia was 24% for patients with a FAR of at least 0.1 on admission to the hospital, and it rose to more than 41% when that value was above 0.3.

If a woman in labor is found to be at increased risk for preeclampsia based on the FAR and other clinical indicators — such as being older than 35 or having chronic high blood pressure or obesity — obstetricians and anesthesiologists can take extra precautions to reduce the risk and ensure the patient’s blood pressure and fluid levels remain stable and controlled. For example, they can order more frequent blood pressure checks or lab tests. If the FAR indicates a woman is at risk for preeclampsia with severe symptoms, an epidural for pain management can be placed early before it becomes too risky.

“While FAR has been associated with other inflammatory conditions, its specific application to preeclampsia and preeclampsia with severe symptoms has not been reported in a group this large and racially diverse,” said Lucy Shang, B.A., lead author of the study and a medical student at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York. “Our study shows that FAR can be a predictive tool that gives anesthesiologists and obstetricians a new method for assessing a laboring mom’s risk of developing preeclampsia when they are admitted to the hospital.”

She noted that while this ratio should be assessed for all pregnant women, calculating the FAR is especially important for women who are at higher risk for preeclampsia, such as Black women and those with high blood pressure and obesity. “Additional research is needed to determine the exact range of the FAR that would be considered concerning and would be helpful to incorporate into routine prenatal care as a predictive tool for early identification of preeclampsia,” she said.

*** ANESTHESIOLOGY 2024 news releases may contain updated data that was not originally available at the time abstracts were submitted.

THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF ANESTHESIOLOGISTS

Founded in 1905, the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) is an educational, research and scientific society with more than 58,000 members organized to advance the medical practice of anesthesiology and secure its future. ASA is committed to ensuring anesthesiologists evaluate and supervise the medical care of all patients before, during and after surgery. ASA members also lead the care of critically ill patients in intensive care units, as well as treat pain in both acute and chronic settings.

For more information on the field of anesthesiology, visit the American Society of Anesthesiologists online at asahq.org. To learn more about how anesthesiologists help ensure patient safety, visit asahq.org/madeforthismoment. Join the ANESTHESIOLOGY® 2024 social conversation today. Like ASA on Facebook, follow ASALifeline on X and use the hashtag #ANES24.

# # #

END



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Prolonged fasting for multiple orthopedic surgeries raises risk of malnutrition, leading to worse outcomes

2024-10-19
PHILADELPHIA — People who have multiple orthopedic surgeries during the same hospital stay are more likely to suffer malnutrition due to repeated or prolonged fasting, which can slow recovery and increase the risk of death, according to a study of more than 28 million patients presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY® 2024 annual meeting. Because food or liquid retained in the stomach increases the risk of regurgitation and aspiration in the airway and lungs during general anesthesia and deep sedation, most patients are directed to fast for ...

World medical association declaration of Helsinki: Ethical principles for medical research involving human participants

2024-10-19
About The Article: This article presents the 2024 revision of the World Medical Association’s Declaration of Helsinki, a set of principles to guide the ethical treatment of participants in medical research. Corresponding Author: World Medical Association (wma@wma.net). To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jama.2024.21972) Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions ...

Making the ethical oversight of all clinical trials fit for purpose

2024-10-19
About The Study: This article examines ethical oversight of clinical research in the U.S. and offers practical recommendations that are consistent with current regulations and that could help to make research oversight better fit for purpose for different types of studies. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Nancy E. Kass, ScD, email nkass@jhu.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jama.2024.0269) Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, ...

Long-term low-dose antiviral treatment benefits patients with eye disease and pain from shingles

2024-10-19
Long-term, low-dose antiviral treatment reduces the risk for potentially vision-damaging bouts of inflammation and infection, as well as pain, which occur when shingles affects the eye, according to new research presented October 19 at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) in Chicago. Shingles occurs when the varicella-zoster virus, which causes chickenpox in children, lies dormant for decades in nerve cells and then starts multiplying again for reasons unknown. It commonly affects people 50 and older, and ...

Long-term antiviral use is key to ocular shingles treatment

2024-10-19
Taking an antiviral medication for a year may prevent vision damage associated with shingles that affects the eye, according to new research led by faculty from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and the NYU Grossman School of Medicine at NYU Langone Health. “Up until now, there has been no proven long-term treatment for new, worsening, or repeated episodes of this disease, so the results of this study provide convincing evidence for using long-term, low-dose antiviral treatment,” said Bennie Jeng, MD, chair of Ophthalmology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania ...

American Society of Anesthesiologists honors Mary Dale Peterson, M.D., MSHCA, FACHE, FASA, with its Distinguished Service Award

2024-10-19
PHILADELPHIA — The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) today presented Mary Dale Peterson, M.D., MSHCA, FACHE, FASA, with its 2023 Distinguished Service Award in recognition of her enduring contributions to advancing patient-centered, physician-led health care. Her dedicated service to the specialty and ASA includes her leadership as ASA president during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The award is the highest honor ASA bestows and is presented annually to a member who has transformed the specialty of anesthesiology. Nationally recognized for her role in guiding health plans and hospitals, Dr. Peterson currently serves ...

Innovation south facility opens in UT Research Park at Cherokee farm

Innovation south facility opens in UT Research Park at Cherokee farm
2024-10-18
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s Fibers and Composites Manufacturing Facility has a new home and IACMI – The Composites Institute has new headquarters with the dedication of Innovation South. Innovation South is an 85,000-square-foot multiuse facility in UT’s Research Park at Cherokee Farm, located just off Alcoa Highway across the Tennessee River from the flagship university’s main campus. Developed and owned by Partners Development, the building includes a 40,000-square-foot ...

Photonic computing harnesses electromagnetic waves

Photonic computing harnesses electromagnetic waves
2024-10-18
In the fields of physics, mathematics, and engineering, partial differential equations (PDEs) are essential for modeling various phenomena, from heat diffusion to particle motion and wave propagation. While some PDEs can be solved analytically, many require numerical methods, which can be time-consuming and computationally intensive. To address these challenges, scientists have been exploring alternative computing paradigms, including photonic computing. Photonic computing leverages light–matter interactions to perform ...

Loss of ‘nitrogen fixers’ threatens biodiversity, ecosystems

Loss of ‘nitrogen fixers’ threatens biodiversity, ecosystems
2024-10-18
STARKVILLE, Miss.—Mississippi State University is part of a European-American collaboration studying how human activities, like fertilizer use and polluting, are impacting nitrogen-fixing plants which are crucial for maintaining healthy ecosystems by adding nitrogen to the soil. MSU Assistant Professor Ryan A. Folk of the Department of Biological Sciences co-authored a study published today [Oct. 18] in Science Advances, showing that increased nitrogen deposition from human activity is reducing the diversity and evolutionary distinctiveness of nitrogen-fixing plants. Lead author Pablo Moreno García, ...

UH Energy Transition Institute launches radio show and online webinars focused on addressing grand challenges in energy

2024-10-18
HOUSTON, Oct. 18, 2024 –The University of Houston Energy Transition Institute is launching two educational series focused on exploring the unfolding energy transition and addressing the grand challenges in energy. Starting October 21, "Driving the Energy Transition," will air on Houston Public Media’s KUHF News 88.7 with new episodes launching every two weeks on Mondays. The following day, October 22, the Energy Transition Webinar series will begin, running biweekly on ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Multi-resistance in bacteria predicted by AI model

Tinker Tots: A citizen science project to explore ethical dilemmas in embryo selection

Sensing sickness

Cost to build multifamily housing in California more than twice as high as in Texas

Program takes aim at drinking, unsafe sex, and sexual assault on college campuses

Inability to pay for healthcare reaches record high in U.S.

Science ‘storytelling’ urgently needed amid climate and biodiversity crisis

KAIST Develops Retinal Therapy to Restore Lost Vision​

Adipocyte-hepatocyte signaling mechanism uncovered in endoplasmic reticulum stress response

Mammals were adapting from life in the trees to living on the ground before dinosaur-killing asteroid

Low LDL cholesterol levels linked to reduced risk of dementia

Thickening of the eye’s retina associated with greater risk and severity of postoperative delirium in older patients

Almost one in ten people surveyed report having been harmed by the NHS in the last three years

Enhancing light control with complex frequency excitations

New research finds novel drug target for acute myeloid leukemia, bringing hope for cancer patients

New insight into factors associated with a common disease among dogs and humans

Illuminating single atoms for sustainable propylene production

New study finds Rocky Mountain snow contamination

Study examines lactation in critically ill patients

UVA Engineering Dean Jennifer West earns AIMBE’s 2025 Pierre Galletti Award

Doubling down on metasurfaces

New Cedars-Sinai study shows how specialized diet can improve gut disorders

Making moves and hitting the breaks: Owl journeys surprise researchers in western Montana

PKU Scientists simulate the origin and evolution of the North Atlantic Oscillation

ICRAFT breakthrough: Unlocking A20’s dual role in cancer immunotherapy

How VR technology is changing the game for Alzheimer’s disease

A borrowed bacterial gene allowed some marine diatoms to live on a seaweed diet

Balance between two competing nerve proteins deters symptoms of autism in mice

Use of antifungals in agriculture may increase resistance in an infectious yeast

Awareness grows of cancer risk from alcohol consumption, survey finds

[Press-News.org] Routine blood test can identify laboring women at risk for preeclampsia, prompt interventions to protect mom and baby