Scheduled birth at term for the prevention of pre-eclampsia (PREVENT-PE): an open-label randomised controlled trial
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Authors
Goadsby, James
Syngelaki, Argyro
Magee, Laura A
von Dadelszen, Peter
Akolekar, Ranjit
Webster, Sophie
Wright, Alan
Wright, David
Nicolaides, Kypros H
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Issue Date
2026
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Article
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BACKGROUND: In high-risk pregnancies, there is no reliable intervention to reduce term pre-eclampsia. We aimed to investigate the effect of screening for pre-eclampsia risk at 36 weeks' gestation and offering risk-stratified, planned, early-term birth. METHODS: PREVENT-PE was an open-label, adaptive (planned, for sample size), randomised controlled trial, done at two maternity hospitals in the UK. We included women (aged ≥16 years) with a singleton pregnancy, live fetus without major anomalies, and ability to provide informed consent, without pre-eclampsia or participation in conflicting trials. Consenting women were randomly assigned (by a central computerised service, 1:1, in random permuted blocks of variable size, stratified by site) to the intervention group (pre-eclampsia risk assessment and, for women with a pre-eclampsia risk ≥1 in 50, risk-stratified planned early-term birth) or control group (usual care at term). The primary outcome was birth with pre-eclampsia (International Society for the Study of Hypertension in Pregnancy criteria). This trial is registered with ISRCTN, ISRCTN41632964. FINDINGS: Of 11 280 women presenting for routine fetal ultrasound at 35 INTERPRETATION: Planned early-term birth based on risk stratification for pre-eclampsia reduced the incidence of pre-eclampsia, without increasing emergency caesarean section or neonatal care unit admission. FUNDING: Fetal Medicine Foundation.
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The Lancet
Volume
407
Issue
10523