Maternal arterial stiffness in women who subsequently develop pre-eclampsia.

ABSTRACT:

Background/objectives

Pre-eclampsia (PE) is associated with profound changes in the maternal cardiovascular system. The aim of the present study was to assess whether alterations in the maternal arterial stiffness precede the onset of PE in at risk women.

Methodology/principal findings

This was a cross sectional study involving 70 pregnant women with normal and 70 women with abnormal uterine artery Doppler examination at 22-24 weeks of gestation. All women had their arterial stiffness (augmentation index and pulse wave velocity of the carotid-femoral and carotid-radial parts of the arterial tree) assessed by applanation tonometry in the second trimester of pregnancy, at the time of the uterine artery Doppler imaging. Among the 140 women participating in the study 29 develope

SUBMITTER: Savvidou MD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3086903 | biostudies-literature | 2011 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature