Preeclampsia is a serious pregnancy complication characterized by dangerously high blood pressure, or hypertension. This can lead to severe health problems for the mother, including organ damage and even death. It can also lead to preterm birth, resulting in a variety of short- and long-term health problems for the infant, or even cause stillbirth.
Dr. Kelsey McLaughlin, a Staff Scientist at Mount Sinai Hospital and Assistant Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Toronto, is leveraging her expertise in preeclampsia research to identify people early in pregnancy who are at risk of this condition.
“On top of the immediate dangers that it poses during pregnancy, a preeclamptic pregnancy can lead to heart disease, kidney disease and stroke later in life. So, the earlier we start managing it, the better.”
Dr. McLaughlin has been instrumental in propelling Mount Sinai to the forefront of preeclampsia research and management — a journey that began in 2017, when the hospital first agreed to using the novel Placental Growth Factor (PlGF) blood test for clinical use. PlGF is a protein that is produced by the placenta and released into the mother’s blood. Scientists believe that its main purpose is to relax blood vessels and thus keep the mother’s blood pressure normal. Early testing for PlGF can tell doctors if levels of the protein are high enough; if not, it’s a sign that the mother is at risk of preeclampsia.
“Having advance warning that a woman may have preeclampsia is huge,” says Dr. McLaughlin. “We can’t cure preeclampsia yet, but we can reduce its severity and long-term impact. There are management strategies and therapies to safely prolong pregnancy. Early warning through PlGF testing provides clinicians with the time and focus to put those measures in place at Mount Sinai Hospital.”
Mount Sinai was the first hospital in Canada — and one of the few in the world — to fully integrate PIGF testing into its care standard.
Staff physicians Dr. John Snelgrove and Dr. John Kingdom in the Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine have formed a research group with Dr. McLaughlin with the goal of revolutionizing preeclampsia screening, diagnosis and management. Together with their trainees, this team is increasingly positioning Mount Sinai as a leading international institution pushing for the integration of PlGF testing into clinical care protocols.
Dr. McLaughlin’s goal now is to see PlGF testing adopted across the country, especially in more remote communities where the consequences of undiagnosed preeclampsia are serious. She spearheaded the new Canadian PlGF Strategy and Research Consortium, which held its inaugural meeting in Toronto in November 2024, in part supported by generous donors.
“Our goal is to help centres from other provinces to begin using PlGF testing and disseminate the knowledge we have acquired over the past several years to support them in doing that. There’s a great deal of interest.”
That interest is only going to increase if Dr. McLaughlin is successful in the next stage of her research, which is to use PlGF testing not only to predict preeclampsia, but to prevent it. She and her team have some ideas.
“We are hoping to launch a multi-centre clinical trial based at Mount Sinai to use this PlGF testing as part of a strategy to prevent preeclampsia from developing in the first place. We want to use the PlGF test to improve maternal and fetal health outcomes across Canada.”