Placental growth factor as a diagnostic tool for placental mediated fetal growth restriction.

Abstract Objective Placental growth factor (PlGF) has shown promise in identification of placental fetal growth restriction (FGR). We aimed to investigate the association between PlGF and sonographic markers of placental dysfunction and assess its ability to diagnose FGR secondary to maternal vascular malperfusion (MVM). Study design A retrospective study of singleton pregnancies with small for gestational age (SGA) fetuses, who had PlGF testing at 16–36 weeks. Fetuses with major chromosomal and/or structural anomalies and pregnancies with missing outcomes were excluded. Sonographic characteristics, perinatal outcomes and placental histopathology were compared between pregnancies with normal and low PlGF ( Results 130 fetuses met inclusion criteria. Compared to normal PlGF (n = 65), pregnancies with low PlGF (n = 65) were associated with an estimated fetal weight  Conclusion PlGF is a useful tool to aid in the diagnosis of placental FGR secondary to MVM.