George Daskalakis and Angeliki Papapanagiotou
Preeclampsia is one of the major causes of perinatal morbidity and mortality. There is urgent need for a first
trimester marker for the prediction of the disease. Ultrasonographic markers when used alone are not very sensitive.
Several biochemical serum markers have been investigated as possible predictors in the first and second trimester
of pregnancy. The markers which have been studied extensively are both angiogenic and antiangiogenic factors as
well as factors related to the process of placentation. However, the biochemical markers when they are used alone
are not extremely effective for the prediction of PE. The combination of these markers with other predictors such as
maternal history, clinical features, risk factors, demographic characteristics, uterine arteries Doppler will develop in
the future more effective prediction models.