Angiogenic imbalance in preeclampsia: Pathogenic, diagnostic and prognostic implications

Preeclampsia is a major cause of maternal and fetal/neonatal morbidity and mortality worldwide.
The disorder has been dubbed the “disease of theories” because of the multiple plausible hypotheses proposed to explain its occurrence. This thesis focuses on an altered angiogenic imbalance in pregnancy reflected by elevated placenta-derived sFlt-1 and decreased PlGF levels weeks before the onset of the phenotypes of preeclampsia. The incremental value of the biomarkers on top of the current standard of diagnosis are investigated, and a well-discriminating prediction model is developed to predict the risk of maternal and fetal/neonatal complications in individual pregnant women.