Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine: Urine test for preeclampsia

A simple urine test can predict and diagnose preeclampsia, according to researchers from Yale University.

Because women with preeclampsia have elevated excretion of misfolded or misshapen proteins that are attracted to an azo dye called Congo Red, Irina Buhimschi, MD, and colleagues created a Congo Red Dot urine test to assess global protein misfolding load during pregnancy.

They calculated results in terms of percentage of Congo Red retention (CRR). Using a cohort of 347 pregnant women, they found that CRR was more accurate at predicting indicated delivery for preeclampsia than protein-to-creatinine ratio (P<.001) and more accurate than the previously validated ratio of high soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase 1 to placental growth factor (sFit1/PlGF) (P=.014).

Buhimschi I, Funai E, Zhao G, et al. Assessment of global protein misfolding load by urine "Congo Red Dot" test for diagnosis and prediction of outcome in women with preeclampsia (PE) [abstract]. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2009;201 (6 suppl):S12-S13. Abstract 20.