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In Switzerland, 2.3% of pregnant women develop preeclampsia. Quantification of the soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt-1) and placental growth factor (PlGF) ratio has shown a diagnostic value in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy, in particular in ruling out preeclampsia within one week. We estimated the economic impact of implementing sFlt-1/PlGF ratio evaluation, in addition to the standard of care (SOC), for women with suspected preeclampsia from a Swiss healthcare system's perspective. A decision tree model was developed to estimate direct medical costs of diagnosis and management of a simulated cohort of Swiss pregnant women with suspected preeclampsia (median week of gestation: 32) until delivery. The model compared SOC vs. SOC plus sFlt-1/PlGF ratio, using clinical inputs from a large multicenter study (PROGNOSIS). Resource use data and unit costs were obtained from hospital records and public sources. The assumed cost for sFlt-1/PlGF evaluation was €141. Input parameters were validated by clinical experts in Switzerland. The model utilized a simulated cohort of 6084 pregnant women with suspected preeclampsia (representing 7% of all births in Switzerland in 2015, n = 86,919). In a SOC scenario, 36% of women were hospitalized, of whom 27% developed preeclampsia and remained hospitalized until birth. In a sFlt-1/PlGF test scenario, 76% of women had a sFlt-1/PlGF ratio of ≤38 (2% hospitalized), 11% had a sFlt-1/PlGF ratio of >38-<85 (55% hospitalized), and 13% had a sFlt-1/PlGF ratio of ≥85 (65% hospitalized). Total average costs/pregnant woman (including birth) were €10,925 vs. €10,579 (sFlt-1/PlGF), and total costs were €66,469,362 vs. €64,363,060 (sFlt-1/PlGF). Implementation of sFlt-1/PlGF evaluation would potentially achieve annual savings of €2,105,064 (€346/patient), mainly due to reduction in unnecessary hospitalization. sFlt-1/PlGF evaluation appears economically promising in predicting short-term absence of preeclampsia in Swiss practice. Improved diagnostic accuracy and reduction in unnecessary hospitalization could lead to significant cost savings in the Swiss healthcare system., Competing Interests: P. R. Blank and P. Marty are employees of Roche Diagnostics (Switzerland) AG. O. Lapaire received honoraria from Roche for lectures. O. Lapaire and M. Hodel participated in an advisory board for Roche.

Introduction: The replacement of 24-h urine collection by protein-creatinine ratio (PCR) for the diagnosis of preeclampsia has been recently recommended. However, the literature is conflicting and there are concerns about the impact of demographic characteristics on the performance of PCR., Material and Methods: This was an implementation audit of the introduction of PCR in a London Tertiary obstetric unit. The performance of PCR in the prediction of proteinuria ≥300 mg/day was assessed in 476 women with suspected preeclampsia who completed a 24-h urine collection and an untimed urine sample for PCR calculation. Multivariate logistic regression was used to assess the independent predictors of significant proteinuria., Results: In a pregnant population, ethnicity and PCR are the main predictors of ≥300 mg proteinuria in a 24-h urine collection. A PCR cut-off of 30 mg/mmol would have incorrectly classified as non-proteinuric, 41.4% and 22.9% of black and non-black women, respectively. Sensitivity of 100% is achieved at cut-offs of 8.67 and 20.56 mg/mmol for black and non-black women, respectively. Applying these levels as a screening tool to inform the need to perform a 24-h urine collection in 1000 women, would lead to a financial saving of €2911 in non-black women and to an additional cost of €3269 in black women., Conclusions: Our data suggest that a move from screening for proteinuria with a 24-h urine collection to screening with urine PCR is not appropriate for black populations. However, the move may lead to cost-saving if used in the white population with a PCR cut-off of 20.5., (© 2018 Nordic Federation of Societies of Obstetrics and Gynecology.)

Background: Pre-eclampsia is a major contributor to maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality. Our objectives in this study are to economically assess, from the payer perspective, routine screening for pre-eclampsia using placental markers -placental protein 13 and placental growth factor - and uterine artery Doppler compared with standard care., Methods: A decision model was developed, which progresses through three sequential endpoints, and compares screening with no screening: (1) Pre-eclampsia yes/no: calculation of the incremental cost of pre-eclampsia-case averted; (2) Hospital discharge: calculation of the mean accumulated costs until discharge after delivery; and (3) Offspring death: calculation of the incremental cost per quality of life-adjusted life-year gained by screening. Data used includes: (1) Obstetrical data of 14 500 births; (2) cost data from the Israeli Ministry of Health and the literature; and (3) screening performance and outcome from the literature., Results: (1) The incremental cost of pre-eclampsia-case averted is $66,949 and $24,723 when the prevalence is 1.7 and 5% respectively. (2) With test cost of $112, the total cost until discharge with/without screening is equal. With pre-eclampsia prevalence of 3%, screening is cheaper. (3) The cost per quality of life-adjusted life-year with screening is $18,919 and < $10,000 with pre-eclampsia prevalence of 1.7 and 3%, respectively., Conclusions: Screening for pre-eclampsia is cost-effective under various scenarios., (© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

Objective: To assess the maternal disease burden due to pre-eclampsia/eclampsia in Ethiopia and the national health system's readiness to respond to the needs of women with pre-eclampsia/eclampsia., Methods: The national emergency obstetric and newborn care (EmONC) assessment entailed collecting information from 112 hospitals and 685 health centers in Ethiopia, focusing on their infrastructure, the services they provided, human resources, equipment and supplies, case load, and mortality due to pre-eclampsia/eclampsia., Results: Pre-eclampsia/eclampsia complicated 1.2% of all institutional deliveries. Given the low institutional delivery rate and an expected incidence of 2%-8% of all deliveries, this implies that only a small fraction (3.8%) of all women with pre-eclampsia/eclampsia received care at health facilities. 11% of all maternal deaths and 16% of direct maternal deaths were due to this obstetric complication. The cause-specific case fatality rate was high (3.6%). Availability of urine test strips, anticonvulsants, antihypertensives, and actual service provision to treat these diseases was limited, especially at health centers., Conclusion: The salutary effects of the national EmONC assessment were immediate, as evidenced by how quickly the release of the Ethiopian report led to important national efforts to improve maternal and newborn health. Expansion of health services should be augmented with periodic assessments of logistics and quality-related issues to assure functioning facilities for women accessing obstetric services., (Copyright © 2011 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)