"We're excited about this," Ravi Thadhani, study lead author and Chief Medical Officer at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, told Scientific American.
Historically, the "cure" for the serious pregnancy complication of preterm preeclampsia has generally been considered to be delivery of the baby and placenta. Medications and monitoring may also help to reduce risks and manage cases. But soon, there may be another option.
Preliminary research indicates that a new blood filtering therapy may help to address the potentially deadly condition. Preeclampsia — which is characterized by sometimes dangerously high blood pressure, high levels of protein in the urine, and signs of organ damage — can lead to maternal and fetal death.
In a small pilot study of 16 pregnant people diagnosed with preterm preeclampsia, Cedars-Sinai researchers found that removing the sFlt-1 protein from the subjects' blood before retransfusion could help lower maternal blood pressure, according to a news release. This, in turn, could help reduce the risk of fatality for the pregnant person, thereby enabling the pregnancy to continue for a period of time instead of forcing earlier delivery.
"We're excited about this," Ravi Thadhani, study lead author and Chief Medical Officer at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, told Scientific American. "[It's the] first time anyone has developed a targeted treatment for this condition."
While the condition is still being investigated, the Preeclampsia Foundation has highlighted placental development issues and systemic inflammatory response as possible underlying causes, with genetic, physical, social, and environmental risk factors potentially contributing. For example, some research has linked air pollution exposure to preeclampsia.
Cedars-Sinai researchers have compared the blood filtering technique, known as "extracorporeal apheresis," to kidney dialysis. In their study, published in Nature Medicine, subjects experienced lowered blood pressure, normal fetal growth, and the delay of early delivery, extending their gestational periods by an average of 10 additional days.
"Even a few extra days in the womb can make a meaningful difference in outcomes for premature infants," Ananth Karumanchi, co-author and Director of the Renovascular Research Center at Cedars-Sinai, said in the release.
Next steps for the research could include a larger randomized trial to more rigorously test the efficacy of the treatment.
Kirsten Krueger contributed to the editing of this article.
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