The Filtrate:

Joel Topf

Swapnil Hiremath

With Special Guest:

Michelle Hladunewich, Nephrologist at the University of Toronto

Mir Melamed, Maternal-Fetal Medicine at the University of Toronto

Editor

Simon Topf

Show Notes

Priscilla Smith’s letter:

Dear Joel and the Freely Filtered team,

I am a long-time fan of your podcast and was looking forward to hearing your recently aired discussion of the Praecis study of sflt1:PlGF use in preeclampsia. Preeclampsia and renal disease in pregnancy are areas that many nephrologists report a lack of knowledge or confidence in discussing and managing. I am a nephrologist who has been co-leading a renal pregnancy clinic in London while writing a PhD on progression of renal disease in pregnancy. I have had the immense privilege of working with experts and key opinion leaders in preeclampsia research both in the UK and internationally. As you know, preeclampsia is a serious and significant condition contributing to global maternal mortality and is also associated with future CKD and CVD risk so is both relevant and important within our professional group.

Sadly, I found myself disappointed by the episode and felt it was a missed opportunity. I appreciate that you had difficulties obtaining appropriate experts to join the discussion, but perhaps it would have been better to delay production. While you all valiantly proceeded to discuss this important study, the topic is complex and there appeared to be a lack of understanding of the surrounding literature and pathogenesis of preeclampsia. Sadly, the maternal medicine expert’s comments at the end of the podcast added little as she seemed determine to negate any benefit from the results despite declaring she had no experience or expertise in the use of these biomarkers.

There are many people who understand the clinical aspects of preeclampsia as well as having direct experience of the use and utility of these biomarkers who would have been able to contribute much to your conversation. I look forward to future discussions of renal disease in pregnancy on your podcast and would be happy to suggest some expert panellists if you ever find yourself stuck.

Kind regards,

Priscilla

Excess placental soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase 1 (sFlt1) may contribute to endothelial dysfunction, hypertension, and proteinuria in preeclampsia (JCI 2003)

sFlt background: Pathogenesis of Preeclampsia and Therapeutic Approaches Targeting the Placenta (PubMed)

PlGF background: Perspectives on the Use of Placental Growth Factor (PlGF) in the Prediction and Diagnosis of Pre-Eclampsia: Recent Insights and Future Steps (PubMed)

The PRAECIS trial (NephJC | NEJM Evidence)

Rita McGrath & Stephen Bailey, ExecOnLine co-founder - Thought Sparks