Objectives: To compare soluble-ST2 (sST2) concentrations in patients with severe features of preeclampsia and healthy pregnant controls before as well as 1 year after delivery. Another objective was to assess potential correlation between sST2 concentrations and myocardial function.Methods: Patients with singleton pregnancy complicated by severe features of preeclampsia and healthy controls were included in a prospective observational study. Plasma sST2 concentrations were measured within 24 h before delivery and 1 year after delivery. Standard two-dimensional and Doppler echocardiography was performed at the time of first sST2 measurement before delivery. Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare sST2 values in preeclamptic patients versus controls. Kendall's tau was used to assess correlation between sST2 values and echocardiographic measures of left ventricular systolic and diastolic function (p < .05 significant).Results: We included 24 patients with severe preeclampsia and 29 controls. One year after delivery, sST2 concentrations were available for 24 (45%) participants (13 in preeclampsia group and 11 controls). Concentrations of sST2 were markedly elevated in patients with severe preeclampsia compared to healthy controls before delivery (p = .04), but not 1 year after delivery (p = .80). There was no significant correlation between sST2 and parameters of systolic function. In preeclamptic patients, we found a significant inverse correlation between sST2 and markers of diastolic function: peak early mitral inflow velocity E (Kendall's tau = -0.40; p = .02), peak early diastolic myocardial velocities at septal and lateral mitral annulus (e') (Kendall's tau = -0.354, p = .04) and ratio between e' and peak systolic myocardial velocities at the septal and lateral mitral annulus (e'/s') (Kendall's tau = -0.362, p = .04).Conclusions: Preeclampsia with severe features is associated with increased maternal plasma concentrations of sST2, which return to normal values in the first year after delivery. Higher sST2 levels in preeclamptic patients correlate with impaired parameters of left ventricular diastolic function.
Keywords: Doppler echocardiography; fluid management; left ventricular diastolic dysfunction; sST2; severe preeclampsia.