Hypertension Is Still a Threat After Severe Preeclampsia

Women who have severe preeclampsia during pregnancy also have an increased risk for hypertension 1 year after delivery, results of a new study show.

For their study, the researchers assessed 200 women with severe preeclampsia. All women included in the study underwent ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) and office BP measurements at 1 year following delivery.
___________________________________________________________________________

RELATED CONTENT
Breastfeeding Could Lower Hypertension Risk
Hypertension is Best Controlled With a Multilevel Approach
___________________________________________________________________________

The prevalence of hypertension (sustained hypertension, masked hypertension, and white-coat hypertension) and systolic night-to-day BP ratio (dipping pattern) were calculated. Information of preexisting hypertension and antihypertensive treatment were obtained via medical files and questionnaires.

Findings from the study showed that 41.5% of women had either sustained (17.5%), masked (14.5%), or white-coat hypertension (9.5%) at 1 year post-delivery based on ABPM measurements. Approximately 46% of women demonstrated a disadvantageous dipping pattern.

In addition, the researchers noted that the use of sheer office BP measurements alone would have only diagnosed hypertension in 24% of women in this cohort.

“Hypertension is common 1 year after experiencing severe preeclampsia,” the researchers concluded. “Masked hypertension and white-coat hypertension are risk factors for future cardiovascular disease and can only be diagnosed with ABPM. Therefore, ABPM should be offered to all these women at high risk of developing hypertension and possibly future cardiovascular disease.”

—Christina Vogt

Reference:

Benschop L, Duvekot JJ, Versmissen J, van Broekhoven V, Steegers EAP, van Lennep JER. Blood pressure profile 1 year after severe preeclampsia [Published online February 5, 2018]. Hypertension. https://doi.org/10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.117.10338.