Ambulatory arterial stiffness index and nocturnal blood pressure dipping in pregnancies complicated by hypertension. (19th June 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Kärkkäinen, Henna; Saarelainen, Heli; Laitinen, Tomi; Heiskanen, Nonna; Valtonen, Pirjo; Laitinen, Tiina; Vanninen, Esko; Heinonen, Seppo
• Is Part Of: Clinical physiology and functional imaging. Volume 34:Number 1(2014:Jan.)
• Page Start: 39
• Page End: 46
• Publication Date: 2013-06-19
• Subjects: Physiology, Pathological -- Periodicals; Diagnostic imaging -- Periodicals; 612
• DOI: 10.1111/cpf.12063
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1475-0961

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="cpf12063-abs-0001"> <title>Summary</title> <sec id="cpf12063-sec-0001" sec-type="section"> <title>Background</title> <p>The study sets out to examine differences in arterial stiffness and nocturnal blood pressure dipping as outcomes in women with gestational hypertension compared with healthy pregnant women during pregnancy and 3 months after delivery.</p> </sec> <sec id="cpf12063-sec-0002" sec-type="section"> <title>Methods and results</title> <p>We prospectively studied a cohort of 60 women during the third trimester of pregnancy; of them, 28 suffered pregnancy‐induced hypertension or pre‐eclampsia and 32 had uncomplicated singleton pregnancies. Subsequently, 42 of these were re‐examined 3 months after delivery. In women with a hypertensive disorder, the nocturnal fall in blood pressure (dipping) was significantly smaller than in the normotensive group (systolic, <italic>P </italic>= 0·031; diastolic, <italic>P</italic><0·001), but after pregnancy, this difference disappeared (systolic, <italic>P</italic> = 0·941; diastolic, <italic>P</italic> = 0·907).</p> <p>Ambulatory arterial stiffness index (AASI) assessed after pregnancy correlated inversely with fasting glucose level during pregnancy (<italic>r </italic>= −0·580, <italic>P</italic> = 0·018), both systolic (<italic>r</italic> = −0·651, <italic>P</italic> = 0·012) and diastolic (<italic>r</italic> = −0·687, <italic>P</italic> = 0·007) nocturnal dipping and total cholesterol concentration after pregnancy (<italic>r</italic> = −0·526, <italic>P</italic> = 0·036).</p> </sec> <sec id="cpf12063-sec-0003" sec-type="section"> <title>Conclusions</title> <p>A hypertensive disorder during pregnancy was associated with a flattened circadian blood pressure response, which was restored after delivery. Higher arterial stiffness predicted the signs of postpartum metabolic syndrome and correlated also with non‐dipping, especially postpartum.</p> </sec> </abstract>