The vasculopathic cord between pre‐eclampsia and kidney function in sickle cell disease.

Pre-eclampsia affects 4-5% of pregnancies worldwide and leads to increased maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality.2 Although the exact mechanisms for developing pre-eclampsia are unclear, placental ischaemia is central in its pathogenesis. Furthermore, those patients with SCD who developed pre-eclampsia had a higher proportion with >=1 VOC/year during their pregnancy compared those that did not have pre-eclampsia (78% vs. 48%). In their paper Boudhabhay I et al i . investigate risk factors and consequences of pre-eclampsia on pregnancy outcomes and kidney function in patients with sickle cell disease (SCD).1 They report that pre-eclampsia: (i) was independently associated with higher body mass index, increased haemolysis and >=1 vaso-occlusive crisis (VOC) requiring hospitalisation; (ii) led to poor maternal and neonatal outcomes and (iii) predicted a more rapid decline in kidney function and greater risk of developing chronic kidney disease (CKD) on longitudinal follow-up. [Extracted from the article]