Placental growth factor (PLGF) was first recommended by NICE in 2016 for use in pregnant women, but since this time its use has been confined mainly to hospital laboratories. The new Lepzi PLGF test from Una Health is performed directly from EDTA whole blood in just 15 minutes, making it the first easy to use test for the prediction and diagnosis of pre-eclampsia with no laboratory equipment required. This hugely improves the accessibility of this important test in maternity management.

A study on the Lepzi test, published in April this year in the journal Pregnancy Hypertension by King’s College London, led by Professor Andrew Shennan and Dr Kate Bramham, demonstrated excellent performance for diagnosis and ruling out pre-eclampsia as well as showing that the test is comparable to NICE recommended tests.