• Augusto Henriques Fulgêncio Brandão, Aline Aarão Evangelista, Raphaela Menin Franco Martins, Henrique Vítor Leite, and Antônio Carlos Vieira Cabral.
• PhD, Researcher, Center of Fetal Medicine, Hospital das Clínicas - Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
• Radiol Bras. 2014 Jul 1;47(4):206-9.

ObjectiveTo assess the accuracy in the prediction of both early and late preeclampsia by flow-mediated dilation of the brachial artery (FMD), a biophysical marker for endothelial dysfunction.Materials And MethodsA total of 91 patients, considered at high risk for development of preeclampsia were submitted to brachial artery FMD between 24 and 28 weeks of gestation.ResultsNineteen out of the selected patients developed preeclampsia, 8 in its early form and 11 in the late form. With a cut-off value of 6.5%, the FMD sensitivity for early preeclampsia prediction was 75.0%, with specificity of 73.3%, positive predictive value (PPV) of 32.4% and negative predictive value (NPV) of 91.9%. For the prediction of late preeclampsia, sensitivity = 83.3%, specificity = 73.2%, PPV = 34.4% and NPV = 96.2% were observed. And for the prediction of all associated forms of preeclampsia, sensitivity = 84.2%, specificity = 73.6%, PPV = 45.7% and NPV = 94.6% were observed.ConclusionFMD of the brachial artery is a test with good accuracy in the prediction of both early and late preeclampsia, which may represent a positive impact on the follow-up of pregnant women at high risk for developing this syndrome.

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