Objective: To assess the ability of measuring total maternal plasma fibronectin in predicting the risk of developing preeclampsia. Method: In a cohort of 657 initially normotensive pregnant nulliparous women blood samples were collected at 26, 30 and 34 weeks of gestation. After delivery 3 groups were selected for measurement of total plasma fibronectin. The first group comprised 24 women who developed preeclampsia; the second 21 women who developed gestational hypertension, and the third 89 age-matched controls who remained normotensive. Results: In women who developed preeclampsia the fibronectin levels were higher at 26 (p < 0.01), 30 (p < 0.001) and 34 weeks of gestation (p < 0.001) than in pregnant controls. In the general population of pregnant nulliparous women the estimated risk of subsequent preeclampsia correlated with the fibronectin level at each measurement. In women with fibronectin levels within the 25th percentile at the 26th week of gestation, the risk was ≤1.9% and within the 90th percentile ≥6.2%. The change in fibronectin levels between 26 and 34 weeks of gestation was the only variable that remained statistically associated with preeclampsia (p = 0.0002) in multivariate analysis. In this model the risk figures for the corresponding percentiles were ≤1.0 and ≥5.8%, respectively. Conclusion: Longitudinal assessment of the change in total fibronectin levels predicted preeclampsia slightly better than cross-sectional analysis of fibronectin at any gestational age. Nevertheless, measurement of total fibronectin in maternal plasma could not be proven to be a useful clinical predictor for preeclampsia in a general obstetric population of nulliparous women.

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