Revised competing‐risks model in screening for pre‐eclampsia in twin pregnancy by maternal characteristics and medical history
Authors: Benkő Z. , Chaveeva P. , de Paco Matallana C. , Zingler E. , Wright D. , Nicolaides K. H. 
Published: July 2019

Background

We have proposed previously that the competing‐risks model for prediction of pre‐eclampsia (PE) based on maternal characteristics and medical history (prior model), developed in singleton pregnancies, can be extended to risk assessment for twins; in dichorionic (DC) and monochorionic (MC) twin pregnancies with the same characteristics as in singleton pregnancies, the distribution of gestational age at delivery with PE was shifted to the left by 8 and 10 weeks, respectively. However, in a subsequent validation study, we found that, in both the training and validation datasets, the observed incidence of PE was lower than the predicted one and such overestimation of risk was particularly marked for early PE.

Objectives

First, to develop a new extension of the competing‐risks prior model in screening for PE by maternal demographic characteristics and medical history in twin pregnancies in a training dataset. Second, to examine the predictive performance of this model in screening for PE with delivery < 34 weeks (early PE), < 37 weeks (preterm PE) and at any gestational age (all PE) in twins in a validation dataset. Third, to demonstrate the application of screening in a mixed population of singleton and twin pregnancies.

Methods

The data for this study were obtained from two prospective non‐intervention multicenter screening studies for PE in twin pregnancies at 11 + 0 to 13 + 6 weeks' gestation. The training and validation datasets consisted of 2219 and 2999 women, respectively. We used the training dataset to fit a model in which the effect of twins on shifting the distribution of gestational age at delivery with PE in singletons to the left should not be the same for all gestational ages but the shift should depend on the singleton prior mean; the effect increases with increasing prior mean. We examined the predictive performance of the model in the training and validation datasets using the area under the receiver–operating characteristics curve (AUC) and calibration plots. Data on 16 747 singleton pregnancies obtained from the Screening ProgRamme for prE‐Eclampsia (SPREE) study were included to examine the performance of screening in a mixed population of singleton and twin pregnancies.

Results

Calibration plots and calibration intercept and slope demonstrate superior predictive performance of the new model in the validation dataset. Although the AUC for twin pregnancies is lower than in singleton pregnancies, performance of screening in a mixed population of singleton and twin pregnancies is superior to that in singletons (AUC of 0.790 in a mixed population comprising 2% twins and 98% singletons compared to 0.775 in singletons). For the risk cut‐offs likely to be used in practice, all twin pregnancies screen positive using maternal characteristics and medical history.

Conclusions

A new competing‐risks model in screening for PE by maternal risk factors in twin pregnancy has been developed and, using this model, the predicted risks for early PE, preterm PE and all PE are in relatively good agreement with the observed incidence of the disease. Copyright © 2019 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.