The Medical City Preeclampsia Screening Program

New studies have documented the effectiveness and cost benefits of the comprehensive screening to detect high-risk pregnancies which is available at The Medical City’s Institute for Women’s Health (IWH).

The hospital’s Section of Maternal-Fetal Medicine under IWH has a comprehensive predictive, preventive, and precise approach for pre-eclampsia detection and prevention that follows international recommendation.

One of the studies has documented how the TMC preeclampsia screening can identify nine out of 10 women who will eventually develop hypertension in pregnancy.

The study was made by Maria Jane Ellise S. Javier, MD and Zarinah G. Gonzaga, MD and published in the Philippine Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. It documented the accuracy of TMC’s first trimester prenatal screening program.

“This comprehensive screening is most accurate primarily because it combines the woman’s own risk factors with findings on ultrasound and the levels of biochemical markers in the mother’s blood,” explained Dr. Gonzaga, the head of the Section of Maternal-Fetal Medicine.

Compared with the traditional screening approach using the mother’s risk factors alone, TMC’s combined first trimester screening is able to detect more women who are at risk for preeclampsia, either early or late during their pregnancy.

That means that TMC preeclampsia screening can identify nine out of 10 women who will eventually develop hypertension in pregnancy.

TMC’s first trimester preeclampsia screening has also been found to be cost-effective.

A study by Carol Joanna G. Violago, MD, MBA and Irene Quirino, MD presented at the Philippine Obstetrical and Gynecological Society annual convention in 2020 documents the cost-benefit of having the first trimester screening followed by appropriate preventive measures for those at high risk.

Prevention of preeclampisa using the first trimester screening followed by aspirin therapy for those at high risk can save the patient as much as P70,000 compared with the incremental cost of managing preeclampsia when it occurs, Dr. Gonzaga said.

“At The Medical City, we make a difference by identifying a high-risk pregnancy early to give the best care for mothers and their babies,” added Dr. Gonzaga.

One of the most common high-risk conditions in pregnancy is hypertensive disorders which range from chronic hypertension, gestational hypertension, preeclampsia and preeclampsia superimposed on chronic hypertension.

Preeclampsia is a dangerous condition that may occur during pregnancy up to the weeks after delivery and can lead to serious complications for both mother and baby.

Preeclampsia may result in seizures (or eclampsia) and liver and kidney failure, Dr. Gonzaga explained.

In the Philippines, preeclampsia and eclampsia were the causes of up to 30 percent of maternal deaths, according to the Department of Health Philippine Health Statistics of 2017.

Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and the postnatal period can also lead to several long-term problems including complications in future pregnancies and elevated lifetime risk of non-communicable diseases including cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, diabetes, obesity, and mental illness.