Aspirin in Preeclampsia: Current Evidence and Future Scope of Research

Abstract

Maternal mortality remains a global health problem. Preeclampsia and eclampsia, major hypertensive disorders in pregnancy, remain the fourth leading cause of maternal mortality. The role of aspirin to prevent preeclampsia has been explored in the last 3 decades. This article summarizes the various studies done so far on the role of aspirin in preeclampsia and seeks to develop a hypothesis regarding the indication, dose and efficacy of aspirin therapy in the prevention of preeclampsia. Aspirin, when administered at 12-20 weeks of gestation at a dose of 75-150 mg seems to have a role in primary and secondary prevention of preeclampsia in high-risk pregnant women. The existing screening algorithms for preeclampsia have a high false positive rate. Therefore, a need for further research to develop a better screening algorithm for detection of women at a high risk of preeclampsia is warranted. The results, from the recent Combined Multimarker Screening and Randomized Patient Treatment with Aspirin for Evidence-Based Preeclampsia Prevention (ASPRE) study, reported better prevention of preeclampsia with a 150 mg dose of aspirin. Hence, more data from multicentric randomized controlled trials are required to establish the safety and higher effect size of 120-150 mg dose aspirin compared to the 75-100 mg dose of aspirin for prevention of preterm preeclampsia.