University of Iowa plans to develop early screening test for pregnancy disorder

IOWA CITY - The American Heart Association announced Thursday a $3.7 million grant to fund a team of University of Iowa researchers investigating methods to predict, prevent and treat pre-eclampsia, a potentially deadly pregnancy disorder.

The association plans to give $15 million over four years through its Strategically Focused Hypertension Research Network made up of researchers from the UI, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Medical College of Wisconsin and Cincinnati Children's Hospital. Pre-eclampsia, a hypertension disorder, complicates 5 percent to 7 percent of all pregnancies, killing thousands of babies and pregnant mothers every year, the association said.

The disorder often goes undetected until the second half of pregnancy, and the only effective treatment is to deliver the fetus, often prematurely, which can lead to further complications. Pre-eclampsia is associated with a lifelong increased risk for cardiovascular diseases in both the mother and child.

The UI team, led by Curt Sigmund, chairman and executive director of the department of pharmacology, will work to develop an early screening test for pre-eclampsia and identify new methods to prevent and treat the disorder, the association reported.