Office blood pressure values and the necessity of out-of-office measurements in high-risk pregnancies

Relationship between serum uric acid, nocturnal hypertension and risk for preeclampsia in high-risk pregnancies

To analyze the possible association between serum uric acid (SUA) and nocturnal hypertension and to evaluate the ability of these variables (alone or in combination) to predict preeclampsia (PE) we conducted a historical cohort study in 532 high-risk pregnancies. Women were divided according to SUA values and nocturnal blood pressure (BP) into four groups: 1- normal SUA and nocturnal normotension; 2- high SUA and nocturnal normotension; 3- normal SUA and nocturnal hypertension and 4- high SUA and nocturnal hypertension. High SUA was defined by the top quartile values and nocturnal hypertension as BP ≥ 120/70 mmHg, using ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM), during nocturnal rest. Risks for PE were compared using logistic regression. SUA had a weak but significant correlation with daytime systolic ABPM (r = 0.11, p = 0.014), daytime diastolic ABPM (r = 0.13, p = 0.004), nighttime systolic ABPM (r = 0.16, p < 0.001) and nighttime diastolic ABPM (r = 0.18, p < 0.001). Also, all ABPM values were higher in women with high SUA. The absolute risk of PE increased through groups: 6.5%, 13.1%, 31.2%, and 47.9% for groups 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively, p < 0.001. Compared with Group 1, Group 3 (OR 6.29 95%CI 3.41-11.60), but not Group 2 (OR 2.15 95%CI 0.88-5.24), had statistically significant higher risk for PE. Group 4 (women with both, high SUA and nocturnal hypertension) had the highest risk (OR 13.11 95%CI 6.69-25.70). Risks remained statistically significant after the adjustment for relevant variables. In conclusion, the combination of SUA > 4 mg/dL and nocturnal BP > 120/70 mmHg implies a very high risk to developed PE.

Development of preeclampsia in pregnant women with white-coat hypertension: a systematic review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE

Hypertensive disorders during pregnancy are a significant cause of maternal and perinatal mortality and morbidity worldwide. White coat hypertension (WCH) is a hypertensive disease characterized by an increased clinic blood pressure but normal home or workplace blood pressure. Due to variable prevalence, a subset of women with WCH may be incorrectly diagnosed with chronic hypertension, highlighting the need for accurate diagnosis. Little is known about the role of WCH in pregnancy, but a meta-analysis aims to determine whether WCH increases the likelihood of developing preeclampsia.

METHODS

A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to determine whether there is an association between WCH and the incidence of preeclampsia in pregnant women. The search included PubMed, Embase, and Scopus databases until February 2023, using PRISMA guidelines. Pregnant women with apparent office hypertension throughout pregnancy who underwent 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring or home blood pressure monitoring were included. Meta-analysis was performed using RevMan.

RESULTS

This study included 12 studies with a total of 4,672 pregnant women and found that women with WCH have a higher risk of developing preeclampsia compared to normotensive women (RR: 2.29, 95% CI [1.18,4.43], P = 0.01). However, when compared with pregnant women with gestational hypertension or chronic hypertension, women with WCH had a significantly lower risk of developing preeclampsia ((RR: 0.39, [0.20,0.80], p=0.009) and (RR: 0.41, [0.27,0.62], P<0.001), respectively).

CONCLUSION

The study recommends incorporating 24-hour ABPM into clinical practice to differentiate between chronic hypertension and WCH in early pregnancy and focus on special management for those who need it. The findings may guide future research on ABPM's role in diagnosing WCH and its effects on pregnancy outcomes.

Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring for Diagnosis and Management of Hypertension in Pregnant Women

Hypertension disorders during pregnancy has a wide range of severities, from a mild clinical condition to a life-threatening one. Currently, office BP is still the main method for the diagnosis of hypertension during pregnancy. Despite of the limitation these measurements, in clinical practice office BP of 140/90 mmHg cut point is used to simplify diagnosis and treatment decisions. The out-of-office BP evaluations are it comes to discarding white-coat hypertension with little utility in practice to rule out masked hypertension and nocturnal hypertension. In this revision, we analyzed the current evidence of the role of ABPM in diagnosing and managing pregnant women. ABPM has a defined role in the evaluation of BP levels in pregnant women, being appropriate performing an ABPM to classification of HDP before 20 weeks of gestation and second ABMP performed between 20-30 weeks of gestation to detected of women with a high risk of development of PE. Furthermore, we propose to, discarding white-coat hypertension and detecting masked chronic hypertension in pregnant women with office BP > 125/75 mmHg. Finally, in women who had PE, a third ABPM in the post-partum period could identify those with higher long-term cardiovascular risk related with masked hypertension.

Masked hypertension and neonatal outcome in high-risk pregnancies

We previously showed that masked hypertension is a frequent finding in high-risk pregnancies and a strong predictor of preeclampsia/eclampsia. However, neonatal consequences of masked hypertension have not been deeply analyzed. Consequently, the aim of this study was to determine if masked hypertension is a risk factor for poor neonatal outcome. We evaluated a cohort of 588 high-risk pregnant women (29 ± 7 years old with 27 ± 6 weeks of gestation at blood pressure evaluation); 22.1%, 8.5%, 2.9%, and 2.6% had history of hypertension, diabetes, collagen diseases and chronic renal disease, respectively. According to the data of office and ambulatory blood pressures monitoring, women was classified as normotension (61.7%), white-coat hypertension (5.4%), masked hypertension (21.6%) and sustained hypertension (11.2%) respectively. Compared to normotension, all neonatal outcomes were worst in women with masked hypertension; neonates had lower mean birth weight (2577 (842) vs. 3079 (688) g, P < 0.001), higher prevalence of very low (12.1% vs 2.0%, P = .002) and extremely low birth weight (4.3% vs 0%, P < 0.001), and low one-minute APGAR score (7.8% vs 1.8%, P < 0.001). Furthermore, 14.2% needed admission to neonatal intensive care unit (NICE) (P = 0.001). Compared with normotension the risk for poor the combined neonatal outcome (admission to NICE plus still born) was significantly higher in masked hypertension (adjusted OR 2.58 95% CI 1.23-5.40) but not in white-coat hypertension (adjusted OR 0.41 95% CI 0.05-3.12). In conclusion, in high-risk pregnancies, masked hypertension was a strong and independent predictor for poor neonatal outcomes.

Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy: definition, management, and out-of-office blood pressure measurement

Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy increase the risk of adverse maternal and fetal outcomes. In 2018, the Japanese classification of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy was standardized with those of other countries, and a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy was considered to be present if hypertension existed during pregnancy and up to 12 weeks after delivery. Strategies for the prevention of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy have become much clearer, but further research is needed on appropriate subjects and methods of administration, and these have not been clarified in Japan. Although guidelines for the use of antihypertensive drugs are also being studied and standardized with those of other countries, the use of calcium antagonists before 20 weeks of gestation is still contraindicated in Japan because of the safety concerns that were raised regarding possible fetal anomalies associated with their use at the time of their market launch. Chronic hypertension is now included in the definition of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, and blood pressure measurement is a fundamental component of the diagnosis of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. Out-of-office blood pressure measurements, including ambulatory and home blood pressure measurements, are important for pregnant and nonpregnant women. Although conditions such as white-coat hypertension and masked hypertension have been reported, determining their occurrence in pregnancy is complicated by the gestational week. This narrative review focused on recent reports on hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, including those related to blood pressure measurement and classification.

Directive clinique no 426 : Troubles hypertensifs de la grossesse : Diagnostic, prédiction, prévention et prise en charge

OBJECTIF

La présente directive a été élaborée par des fournisseurs de soins de maternité en obstétrique et en médecine interne. Elle aborde le diagnostic, l'évaluation et la prise en charge des troubles hypertensifs de la grossesse, la prédiction et la prévention de la prééclampsie ainsi que les soins post-partum des femmes avec antécédent de trouble hypertensif de la grossesse.

POPULATION CIBLE

Femmes enceintes. BéNéFICES, RISQUES ET COûTS: La mise en œuvre des recommandations de la présente directive devrait réduire l'incidence des troubles hypertensifs de la grossesse, en particulier la prééclampsie, et des issues défavorables associées. DONNéES PROBANTES: La revue exhaustive de la littérature a été mise à jour en tenant compte des nouvelles données probantes jusqu'en décembre 2020 et en suivant la même méthodologie que pour la précédente directive de la Société des obstétriciens et gynécologues du Canada (SOGC) sur les troubles hypertensifs de la grossesse. La recherche s'est limitée aux articles publiés en anglais ou en français. Les recommandations relatives aux traitements s'appuient d'abord sur les essais cliniques randomisés et les revues systématiques (lorsque disponibles), ainsi que sur l'évaluation des résultats cliniques substantiels chez les mères et les bébés. MéTHODES DE VALIDATION: Les auteurs se sont entendus sur le contenu et les recommandations par consensus et ont répondu à l'examen par les pairs du comité de médecine fœto-maternelle de la SOGC. Les auteurs ont évalué la qualité des données probantes et la force des recommandations en utilisant le cadre méthodologique d'évaluation, de développement et d'évaluation (GRADE) et se sont gardé l'option de désigner certaines recommandations par la mention « bonne pratique ». Voir l'annexe A en ligne (tableau A1 pour les définitions et tableau A2 pour l'interprétation des recommandations fortes et conditionnelles [faibles]). Le conseil d'administration de la SOGC a approuvé la version définitive aux fins de publication.

PROFESSIONNELS CIBLES

Tous les fournisseurs de soins de santé (obstétriciens, médecins de famille, sages-femmes, infirmières et anesthésistes) qui prodiguent des soins aux femmes avant, pendant ou après la grossesse.

RECOMMANDATIONS

Guideline No. 426: Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy: Diagnosis, Prediction, Prevention, and Management

OBJECTIVE

This guideline was developed by maternity care providers from obstetrics and internal medicine. It reviews the diagnosis, evaluation, and management of the hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDPs), the prediction and prevention of preeclampsia, and the postpartum care of women with a previous HDP.

TARGET POPULATION

Pregnant women.

BENEFITS, HARMS, AND COSTS

Implementation of the recommendations in these guidelines may reduce the incidence of the HDPs, particularly preeclampsia, and associated adverse outcomes.

EVIDENCE

A comprehensive literature review was updated to December 2020, following the same methods as for previous Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC) HDP guidelines, and references were restricted to English or French. To support recommendations for therapies, we prioritized randomized controlled trials and systematic reviews (if available), and evaluated substantive clinical outcomes for mothers and babies.

VALIDATION METHODS

The authors agreed on the content and recommendations through consensus and responded to peer review by the SOGC Maternal Fetal Medicine Committee. The authors rated the quality of evidence and strength of recommendations using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach, along with the option of designating a recommendation as a "good practice point." See online Appendix A (Tables A1 for definitions and A2 for interpretations of strong and conditional [weak] recommendations).The Board of the SOGC approved the final draft for publication.

INTENDED USERS

All health care providers (obstetricians, family doctors, midwives, nurses, and anesthesiologists) who provide care to women before, during, or after pregnancy.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Preterm Delivery and Long-term Risk of Hypertension in Women

Importance

Preterm delivery has been associated with future cardiometabolic disorders in women. However, the long-term risks of chronic hypertension associated with preterm delivery and whether such risks are attributable to familial confounding are unclear. Such knowledge is needed to improve long-term risk assessment, clinical monitoring, and cardiovascular prevention strategies in women.

Objective

To examine the long-term risks of chronic hypertension associated with preterm delivery in a large population-based cohort of women.

Design, Setting, and Participants

This national cohort study assessed all 2 195 989 women in Sweden with a singleton delivery from January 1, 1973, to December 31, 2015. Data analyses were conducted from March 8, 2021, to August 20, 2021.

Exposures

Pregnancy duration identified from nationwide birth records.

Main Outcomes and Measures

New-onset chronic hypertension identified from primary care, specialty outpatient, and inpatient diagnoses using administrative data. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to compute hazard ratios (HRs) while adjusting for preeclampsia, other hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, and other maternal factors. Cosibling analyses were assessed for potential confounding by shared familial (genetic and/or environmental) factors.

Results

In 46.1 million person-years of follow-up, 351 189 of 2 195 989 women (16.0%) were diagnosed with hypertension (mean [SD] age, 55.4 [9.9] years). Within 10 years after delivery, the adjusted HR for hypertension associated with preterm delivery (gestational age <37 weeks) was 1.67 (95% CI, 1.61-1.74) and when further stratified was 2.23 (95% CI, 1.98-2.52) for extremely preterm (22-27 weeks of gestation), 1.85 (95% CI, 1.74-1.97) for moderately preterm (28-33 weeks of gestation), 1.55 (95% CI, 1.48-1.63) for late preterm (34-36 weeks of gestation), and 1.26 (95% CI, 1.22-1.30) for early-term (37-38 weeks of gestation) compared with full-term (39-41 weeks of gestation) delivery. These risks decreased but remained significantly elevated at 10 to 19 years (preterm vs full-term delivery: adjusted HR, 1.40; 95% CI, 1.36-1.44), 20 to 29 years (preterm vs full-term delivery: adjusted HR, 1.20; 95% CI, 1.18-1.23), and 30 to 43 years (preterm vs full-term delivery: adjusted HR, 95% CI, 1.12; 1.10-1.14) after delivery. These findings were not explained by shared determinants of preterm delivery and hypertension within families.

Conclusions and Relevance

In this large national cohort study, preterm delivery was associated with significantly higher future risks of chronic hypertension. These associations remained elevated at least 40 years later and were largely independent of other maternal and shared familial factors. Preterm delivery should be recognized as a lifelong risk factor for hypertension in women.

Nocturnal hypertension and risk of developing early-onset preeclampsia in high-risk pregnancies

To test the hypothesis that nocturnal hypertension identifies risk for early-onset preeclampsia/eclampsia (PE), we conducted an historical cohort study of consecutive high-risk pregnancies between 1st January 2016 and 31st March 2020. Office blood pressure (BP) measurements and ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) were performed. The cohort was divided into patients without PE or with early- or late-onset PE (<34 and ≥34 weeks of gestation, respectively). The relative risks of office and ABPM hypertension for the development of late- or early-onset PE were estimated with multinomial logistic regression using no PE as a reference category. Four hundred and seventy-seven women (mean age 30 ± 7 years, with 23 ± 7 weeks of gestation at the time of the BP measurements) were analyzed; 113 (23.7%) developed PE, 69 (14.5%) developed late-onset PE, 44 (9.2%) developed early-onset PE. Office and ambulatory BP increased between the groups, and women who developed early-onset PE had significantly higher office and ambulatory BP values than those with late-onset PE or without PE. Hypertension prevalence increased across groups, with the highest values in early-onset PE. Nocturnal hypertension was the most prevalent finding and was highly prevalent in women who developed early-onset PE (88.6%); only 1.6% of women without nocturnal hypertension developed early-onset PE. Additionally, nocturnal hypertension was a stronger predictor for early-onset PE than for late-onset PE (adjusted OR, 5.26 95%CI 1.67-16.60) vs. 2.06, 95%CI 1.26-4.55, respectively). In conclusion, nocturnal hypertension was the most frequent BP abnormality and a significant predictor of early-onset PE in high-risk pregnancies.

What happened after birth to pregnant women undergoing ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) for the diagnosis of hypertension?

The latest Brazilian Guidelines on ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) consider an exam as a useful tool during pregnancy, especially during the first half of pregnancy. They also indicate that white coat hypertension as well as masked hypertension may occur in up to one-third of pregnancies. As white coat hypertension has a more favorable diagnosis than gestational hypertension, it remains associated with 50% of pregnancies and is not associated with complications. Elsewhere, 40% of pregnant women develop gestational hypertension. As per the guidelines, the guidance values should be the same for the general population. The aim of this study was to verify the blood pressure behavior after birth in pregnant women who underwent ABPM and whether ABPM in pregnant women may serve as a predictor of preeclampsia and abnormalities in newborns. Between 01 January 2017 and 31 December 2019, 117 ABPM routines in pregnant women were performed at Unicordis. Among them, 40 were requested for the diagnosis of hypertension, and 77 were requested for antihypertensive therapeutic assessment. The study population comprised pregnant women who underwent ABPM for the diagnosis of hypertension. We assessed a population that comprised 31 subjects who underwent ABPM, 17 of whom had normal results and 14 of whom had abnormal results. Of the 14 pregnant women with abnormal blood pressure behavior, only three (21%) had a physiological drop in blood pressure, seven had attenuated descent, and four did not have blood arterial descent. The age of the pregnant women ranged from 21 to 42 years. The gestational age at the beginning of ABPM ranged from 6 to 37 weeks. In the group with normal ABPM, two pregnant women (11.7%) developed preeclampsia during pregnancy. Additionally, in the group with abnormal ABPM, seven pregnant women (50%) developed preeclampsia during pregnancy. In the group with normal ABPM, three newborns had abnormalities (17.6%); in the group with abnormal ABPM, four newborns had abnormalities (28.5%). In the group with normal ABPM, two subjects developed hypertension after birth (11.7%). In the group with abnormal ABPM, ten subjects (71%) remained hypertensive following birth (Table 1). Conclusions: (1) the results show that the proportion of patients who presented with preeclampsia was higher among individuals with abnormal ABPM than that among individuals with normal ABPM. (2) The proportion of subjects with hypertension following birth was higher among individuals with abnormal ABPM than that among individuals with normal ABPM.

Maternal and Perinatal Outcomes of White Coat Hypertension During Pregnancy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

The aim of this meta-analysis is to investigate whether white-coat hypertension (WCH) has an adverse effect on maternal, fetal, and neonatal outcomes. Medline, EMBASE, www.Clinicaltrials.gov, and Cochrane Library databases were searched electronically in December 2019. The outcomes were compared between pregnant women with WCH and normotensive controls, women with chronic hypertension, gestational hypertension or any hypertensive disorder of pregnancy. Twelve studies were eligible for inclusion in the systematic review. Women with WCH enrolled below 20 weeks had a significantly increased risk of preeclampsia (pooled risk ratio [RR], 5.43 [95% CI, 2.00-14.71]). Furthermore, women with WCH had increased risk of delivering a small-for-gestational-age newborn (RR, 2.47 [95% CI, 1.21-5.05], P=0.013) and preterm birth (RR, 2.86 [95% CI, 1.44-5.68], P=0.002). The risk of preeclampsia (risk ratio, 0.43 [95% CI, 0.23-0.78], P=0.005), small-for-gestational-age (RR, 0.46 [95% CI, 0.26-0.82], P=0.008), preterm birth (RR, 0.47 [95% CI, 0.31-0.71], P<0.001) were significantly lower with WCH compared with women with gestational hypertension. Women with WCH delivered ≈1 week later compared with women with chronic hypertension (mean difference, 1.06 weeks [95% CI, 0.44-1.67 weeks]; P<0.001). WCH is associated with a worse perinatal and maternal outcome than normotension, but better outcomes than gestational hypertension and chronic hypertension. Therefore, diagnosis of WCH should be ascertained in pregnant women presenting with hypertension. When the diagnosis is confirmed, these women require monitoring for developing preeclampsia, small-for-gestational-age and preterm birth.