Serum Angiopoietin-1/Angiopoietin-2 at 16-18 Weeks of Gestation to Predict Preeclampsia

Objective: To determine whether serum angiopoietin-1/angiopoietin-2 ratio can predict preeclampsia in women at 16–18 weeks of gestation, or not. Material and Methods: This was a prospective observational study that was conducted in pregnant women with gestational age of 16-18 weeks. Serum angiopoietin-1 and angiopoietin-2 levels were acquired. The predictive values of these tests were calculated. Results: Data from 269 pregnant women were analyzed. Twenty-two cases developed preeclampsia, and five of these cases had early onset preeclampsia. When the angiopoietin-1/angiopoietin-2 ratio was above 6.2, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive values to predict preeclampsia were 50.0%, 72.9%, 14.1% and 94.2%, respectively. When angiopoietin-1 was used to predict preeclampsia, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive values were 59.1%, 65.2%, 13.1% and 94.7%, respectively. When angiopoietin-2 was used to predict preeclampsia, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive values were 63.6%, 50.2%, 10.2% and 93.9%, respectively. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that serum angiopoietin-1/angiopoietin-2 ratio at 16-18 weeks of gestation was not effective in predicting preeclampsia. However, angiopoietin-2 may be used to predict preeclampsia.