Sympathovagal Imbalance in Early Part of Pregnancy Could be a Biological Marker of Gestational Hypertension

Abstract

Gestational hypertension (GH) is defined as a systolic blood pressure (BP) of at least 140 mm Hg and/or a diastolic blood pressure of at least 90 mm Hg recorded on at least two occasions at least 6 hr apart after the 20th week of gestation in women known to be normotensive before pregnancy.^[1] It is one among the various categories of Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy (HDP) which also includes chronic hypertension, pre-eclampsia and eclampsia. Hypertension is one of the most common medical problem encountered in 15% of pregnancies and it contributes to 12% of maternal morbidity and mortality especially in developing countries of South-East Asia.^[1] A study in India reported the prevalence of hypertensive disorders in which GH (47.4%), was the most common disorder followed by pre-eclampsia (32.6%), pre-eclampsia superimposed on chronic hypertension (11.8%) and chronic hypertension (8.2%).^[2]  Read more...