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BACKGROUND: There is increased risk of hypertension, early cardiovascular disease, and premature mortality in women who have had preeclampsia. This study was undertaken to determine the upper limit of normal blood pressure (BP) 6 months postpartum and the frequency of women with prior preeclampsia who had BP above these limits, as part of the P4 (Post-Partum Physiology, Psychology and Pediatric) follow-up study. METHODS AND RESULTS: BP was measured by sphygmomanometer, 24-hour ambulatory BP monitoring, and non-invasive central BP at 6 months postpartum in 302 women who had normotensive pregnancy and 90 who had preeclampsia. The upper limit of normal BP (mean+2 SD) for women with normotensive pregnancy was 122/79 mm Hg for routine BP, 115/81 mm Hg for central BP, and 121/78 mm Hg for 24-hour ambulatory BP monitoring. Traditional normal values detected only 3% of women who had preeclampsia as having high BP 6 months postpartum whereas these new values detected between 13% and 19%. Women with preeclampsia had greater body mass index (27.8 versus 25.0, P<0.001) and left ventricular wall thickness but similar augmentation index. They also had lower high-density lipoprotein (59±15 versus 65±16 mg/dL, P=0.002), higher triglycerides (77±51 versus 61±35 mg/dL, P=0.005), and higher homeostatic model assessment score (2.1±1.8 versus 1.3±1.9, P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Clinicians wishing to detect high BP in these women should be aware of the lower than usual upper limit of normal for this young cohort and where possible should use 24-hour ambulatory BP monitoring to detect these changes. This may define a subgroup of women who had preeclampsia for whom targeted BP lowering therapy would be successful. REGISTRATION: URL: https://anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=365295&isReview=true; Unique identifier: ACTRN12613001260718.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the histopathology in placentas from patients with severe preeclampsia with and without hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, and low platelets (HELLP) syndrome. An additional aim was to compare the prevalence of infants born small for gestational age in the 2 groups. The study is retrospective and includes 178 women who have been diagnosed at the Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge or at the Free University Medical Center between 2000 and 2005 with severe preeclampsia. A total of 96 women had severe preeclampsia without signs of HELLP (preeclampsia group), whereas 82 fulfilled the criteria for having HELLP syndrome (HELLP group). Infarction (P=0.014), intervillous thrombosis (P<0.001), and abruption (P=0.002) were more common in the preeclampsia group than in the HELLP group. There was no statistically significant difference in the frequency of accelerated villous maturation (P=0.61), decidual arteriopathy (P=0.27), or chorioamnionitis (P=0.61). Furthermore, there was a higher mean placental weight, adjusted for gestational age, in the Swedish HELLP material than in the preeclampsia group (P<0.001). Finally, mothers in the preeclampsia group gave birth significantly more often to small for gestational age babies than mothers suffering from HELLP syndrome (P<0.001). The histopathologic profile and the range of placental lesions were partly different in the preeclampsia and HELLP patients. Considering the central role that placenta seems to have in preeclampsia, the present result might suggest that different underlying pathogenetic mechanisms and courses can be in play in patients with preeclampsia and HELLP syndrome.

Aldosterone, kallikrein, kininase I and II in normal and hypertension complicated pregnancy.

Kallikrein and kininase activities were determined in urine of 58 hospitalized pregnant patients: 15 with E.P.H. gestosis, 10 with chronic hypertension, 18 with non proteinuric pregnancy induced hypertension, 15 with no hemodynamic disease as controls. All our cases with hypertension were treated with alpha-methyl-dopa. A significant increase in urinary kininase activity was shown by only E.P.H. gestosis group vs. controls. In the same group we found a significant decrease in urinary kallikrein activity vs. controls, in contrast with the results obtained previously, perhaps because of the different measuring method. The kininase/kallikrein ratio, theoretically indicative of kinins activity, increased significantly only in the E.P.H. gestosis group.

Prognostic value of the non-stress test in the presence of maternal hypertension in pregnancy]. [Article in Italian]

Clinical significance of echocardiographic monitoring in pregnancies complicated by maternal hypertension

Evaluation of blood volume in normal pregnant patients and in hypertensive pregnant women treated with alpha-methyl-dopa