Objective: To explore the influencing factors of pregnancy-induced hypertensive disorders in pregnancy (HDP) with organ or system impairment in pregnant women, and to analyze and compare the differences of HDP subtypes in different regions of China. Methods: A total of 27 680 pregnant women with HDP with complete data from 161 hospitals in 24 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities were retrospectively collected from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2018. According to their clinical manifestations, they were divided into hypertension group [a total of 10 308 cases, including 8 250 cases of gestational hypertension (GH), 2 058 cases of chronic hypertension during pregnancy] and hypertension with organ or system impairment group [17 372 cases, including 14 590 cases of pre-eclampsia (PE), 137 cases of eclampsia, 2 645 cases of chronic hypertension with PE]. The subtype distribution of HDP in East China (6 136 cases), North China (4 821 cases), Central China (3 502 cases), South China (8 371 cases), Northeast China (1 456 cases), Southwest China (2 158 cases) and Northwest China (1 236 cases) were analyzed. By comparing the differences of HDP subtypes and related risk factors in different regions, regional analysis of the risk factors of HDP pregnant women with organ or system impairment was conducted. Results: (1) The proportions of HDP pregnant women with organ or system impairment in Northeast China (79.05%, 1 151/1 456), Central China (68.42%, 2 396/3 502) and Northwest China (69.34%, 857/1 236) were higher than the national average (62.76%, 17 372/27 680); the proportions in North China (59.18%, 2 853/4 821), East China (60.85%, 3 734/6 136) and South China (59.56%, 4 986/8 371) were lower than the national average, and the differences were statistically significant (all P<0.05). (2) Univariate analysis showed that the proportions of primiparas, non-Han, non-urban household registration, irregular prenatal examination and PE history in the hypertension with organ or system impairment group were higher than those in the hypertension group, and the differences were statistically significant (all P<0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that primiparas, non-Han, non-urban household registration, irregular prenatal examination and PE history were independent risk factors for HDP pregnant women with organ or system impairment (all P<0.05). (3) Primipara: the rates of primipara in Northeast China, North China and Southwest China were higher than the national average level, while those in South China, Central China and Northwest China were lower than the national average level. Non-Han nationality: the rates of non-Han nationality in Northeast China, North China and Northwest China were higher than the national average, while those in East China, South China and Central China were lower than the national average. Non-urban household registration: the rates of non-urban household registration in Northeast China, North China, and Southwest China were lower than the national average, while those in East China, Central China were higher than the national average. Irregular prenatal examination: the rates of irregular prenatal examination in North China, South China and Southwest regions were lower than the national average level, while those in Northeast China, Central China and Northwest China were higher than the national average level. History of PE: the incidence rates of PE in Northeast China, North China, South China and Southwest China were lower than the national average level, while those in Central China and Northwest China were higher than the national average level. Conclusions: Primiparas, non-Han, non-urban household registration, irregular prenatal examination, and PE history are risk factors for HDP pregnant women with organ or system impairment. Patients in Northeast, Central and Northwest China have more risk factors, and are more likely to be accompanied by organ or system function damage. It is important to strengthen the management of pregnant women and reduce the occurrence of HDP.
Humans ; Pregnancy ; Female ; Hypertension, Pregnancy-Induced/diagnosis* ; Retrospective Studies ; Pre-Eclampsia/epidemiology* ; Risk Factors ; Incidence

We performed this study to evaluate uterine artery Doppler velocimetry (UADV) measurement of unilateral or bilateral abnormalities as a predictor of complications in pregnancy during the mid-second trimester (20-24 weeks). We enrolled 1, 090 pregnant women who had undergone UADV twice: once between the 20th and 24th week (1st stage) and again between the 28th and 32nd week (2nd stage) of pregnancy, and then delivered at Yonsei Medical Center. UADV was performed bilaterally. Follow-up UADV was performed between the 28th and 32nd week, and the frequencies of pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH), fetal growth restriction (FGR), and preterm delivery (before 34 weeks of gestation) were determined. Chi-squared and t-tests were used where appropriate, with p < .05 considered significant. According to the results of UADV performed between 20-24 weeks of gestation, 825 women (75.7%) were included in the normal group, 196 (18.0%) in the unilateral abnormality group, and 69 (6.3%) in the bilateral abnormality group. The incidences of FGR were 8.0%, 10.2%, and 26.1%, and the incidences of PIH were 0.1%, 3.6%, and 14.5%, respectively. The incidence of PIH was significantly lower in the normal group. The incidences of preterm delivery were 2.2%, 5.6%, and 8.7%, respectively. PIH developed in 46.7% of patients with bilateral abnormal findings in both the 1st and 2nd stage tests, and developed in none of the patients with normal findings in both tests. Abnormal results found by UADV performed between the 20-24th weeks of pregnancy, such as high S/D ratios regardless of placental location and the presence of an early diastolic notch, were associated with significant increases in the incidences of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) and PIH. This was true for both bilateral and unilateral abnormalities. Abnormal findings in bilateral UADV during the second trimester especially warrant close follow up for the detection of subsequent development of pregnancy complications.
Uterus/*blood supply ; Premature Birth/*diagnosis ; Pregnancy Trimester, Second ; Pregnancy ; *Laser-Doppler Flowmetry ; Hypertension, Pregnancy-Induced/*diagnosis ; Humans ; Fetal Growth Retardation/*diagnosis ; Female ; Adult

Benign primary headaches are common during the postpartum period. However, there are several other kinds of headaches caused by specific underlying pathologies like post-dural puncture headache (PDPH), pregnancy induced hypertension, cortical vein thrombosis, posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES), subarachnoid hemorrhage, intracranial hemorrhage, brain tumor, and so on. These headaches are rare but each can be life threatening conditions when diagnosis is delayed. If a patient was treated for another type of headache, like a PDPH, the diagnosis would be even more difficult. We report on the case of a 24 year-old woman who suffered with PDPH followed by postpartum eclampsia with PRES.
Diagnosis ; Eclampsia ; Female ; Headache ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Hypertension, Pregnancy-Induced ; Intracranial Hemorrhages ; Pathology ; Post-Dural Puncture Headache ; Posterior Leukoencephalopathy Syndrome* ; Postpartum Period ; Pregnancy ; Seizures ; Subarachnoid Hemorrhage ; Thrombosis ; Veins

Hypertensive diseases during pregnancy have a critical impact on morbidity and mortality of mother and fetus. They consist of gestational hypertension, preeclampsia-eclampsia, preeclampsia superimposed on chronic hypertension and chronic hypertension. Maternal and fetal surveillance is very important for early detection of disease progression and maternal and fetal deterioration. History taking, physical examination and laboratory tests for mother and non-stress test, biophysical profile and ultrasonography for fetus should be done on the regular base and immediately after changes of clinical symptoms and signs. Mainstays of treatment include rest, antihypertensive drugs, anticonvulsants, and corticosteroid. The decision for delivery is made on the basis of maternal and fetal conditions. Normal vaginal delivery is usually acceptable unless cesarean section is indicated because of obstetric reasons. To date, we have no effective screening markers and preventive measures for hypertensive diseases during pregnancy. Large-scaled well-designed clinical studies will show better measures which improve maternal and fetal-neonatal outcomes.
Anticonvulsants ; Antihypertensive Agents ; Cesarean Section ; Early Diagnosis ; Female ; Fetus ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Hypertension, Pregnancy-Induced ; Mass Screening ; Mortality ; Mothers ; Physical Examination ; Pre-Eclampsia ; Pregnancy* ; Ultrasonography

Paraganglioma in pregnancy is an extremely rare condition and its diagnosis is often delayed because the clinical symptoms can mimic those of preeclampsia or gestational hypertension. Here, we report the case of a 32-year-old, gravida 2, para 1 woman who presented with severe headache, palpitation, and sweating at 37 weeks' gestation. Although emergent cesarean section was performed on the assumption of severe preeclampsia, blood pressure fluctuated and heart rate remained tachycardiac. We suspected that she might have thromboembolic lesion in the chest or pheochromocytoma. Chest and abdominal computed tomography revealed a 4 cm mass in the left para-aortic space. Serum and urinary catecholamine levels were found to be significantly increased. She underwent laparoscopic mass removal and the pathology confirmed paraganglioma. When typical paroxysmal hypertension is accompanied by headache, palpitation, and sweating during pregnancy, adrenal tumors should be considered.
Adult ; Blood Pressure ; Cesarean Section ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Headache ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Hypertension, Pregnancy-Induced ; Paraganglioma ; Paraganglioma, Extra-Adrenal* ; Pathology ; Pheochromocytoma ; Pre-Eclampsia* ; Pregnancy ; Sweat ; Sweating ; Thorax

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the clinical characteristic of peripartum cardiomyopathy. METHODS: A retrospective review was undertaken on records of women who were diagnosed with peripartum cardiomyopathy at Yonsei University, Wonju College of Medicine, Wonju Christian Hospital between January 1994 and December 2004. We made criteria for its diagnosis, namely: (1) developement of heart failure in the last month of pregnancy or within 5 months after delivery, (2) absence of a determinable etiology for the cardiac failure, and (3) absence of demonstrable heart disease prior to the last month of pregnancy. (4) ejection fraction less than 45%. RESULTS: During the research period, 8 pregnant women were documented as peripartum cardiomyopathy. All of the women undertook echocardiography. Three women were complicated with pregnancy induced hypertension. One woman was in cardiogenic shock. CONCLUSION: Early diagnosis of the peripartum cardiomyopathy is extremely important. The echocardiography can provide helpful information on disease progression.
Cardiomyopathies* ; Diagnosis ; Disease Progression ; Early Diagnosis ; Echocardiography ; Female ; Gangwon-do ; Heart Diseases ; Heart Failure ; Humans ; Hypertension, Pregnancy-Induced ; Peripartum Period* ; Pregnancy ; Pregnant Women ; Retrospective Studies ; Shock, Cardiogenic

OBJECTIVETo identify the serum protein markers for the gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) complicated by pregnancy-induced hypertensive (PIH) syndrome to provide a molecular biological basis for the screening, prevention and therapy of the related diseases.

METHODSSerum samples were collected from the patients with GDM, PIH syndrome, and GDM complicated by PIH syndrome. IgG and albumins were removed from the samples before SDS -PAGE. The protein bands showing significant differences among the 3 samples were collected, digested and identified with mass spectrometry, and the function of the identified proteins was analyzed.

RESULTSThree SDS-PAGE were performed in parallel to confirm the differentially expressed proteins. Mass spectrometry indicated that the proteins showing obvious differences among the 3 samples were haptoglobin, protein SMG8 and apoptosis-inducing factor-1.

CONCLUSIONSThe protein markers identified in GDM complicated by PIH syndrome may be integrated into the proteomic database of gestational metabolic diseases. Identification of the associated protein markers may provide significant experimental data for the prevention, diagnosis and therapy of the related diseases.

Adult ; Apoptosis Inducing Factor ; blood ; Biomarkers ; blood ; Diabetes, Gestational ; blood ; diagnosis ; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel ; Female ; Haptoglobins ; analysis ; Humans ; Hypertension, Pregnancy-Induced ; blood ; diagnosis ; Pregnancy ; Proteomics ; methods ; Young Adult

Pregnancy induced hypertension is multifaceted syndrome with variable involvement of several key organ systems, so sensitive and specific laboratory tests for predicting severity and prognosis. and early diagnosis of this disease are required. Because heme catabolism results in equimolar production of carboxyhemoglobin, iron and bilirubin, a concomittant rise of these parameters would provide confirmation of increased heme catabolism. Microangiopathic hemolytic anemia may occurs in severe preeclampsia, but it is not known whether increased red cell turnover - occurs with mild preeclampsia as complication. The purpose of this study was to confirm that increased heme catabolism also occurs in patients with mild preeclampsia. The analysis of data was done on 23 cases with mild preeclampsia and 35 normal pregnant women, who were admitted to Yeungnam University Hospital from October 1992 to March 1993. The results were as follows. 1. The mean antepartum serum iron concentration was significantly higher in the group with mild preeclampsia (86.5+/-6.1 microg/dl) than in the controls (53.2+/-5.3 microg/dl). 2. The mean antepartum and postpartum carboxyhemoglobin concentrations were significantly higher in the group with mild preeclampsia (antepartum : 2.55+/-0.42 mg/dl, postpartum 1.21+/-0.4 mg/dl) than the controls (antepartum : 0.61+/-0.2 mg/dl, postpartum 0.53+/-0.2 mg/dl) 3. During postpartum, carboxyhemoglobin concentration in preeclampsia reduced significantly from antepartum level, but there was no difference between antepartum and postpartum carboxyhemoglobin concentrations among controls. 4. Bilirubin concentrations were similiar in both groups
Anemia, Hemolytic ; Bilirubin ; Carboxyhemoglobin* ; Early Diagnosis ; Female ; Heme ; Humans ; Hypertension, Pregnancy-Induced ; Iron* ; Metabolism ; Postpartum Period ; Pre-Eclampsia* ; Pregnancy ; Pregnant Women ; Prognosis

OBJECTIVES: Early diagnosis of intrauterine growth retardation is important to ensure optimal monitoring and delivery with the introduction of real-time and Doppler ultrasound systems, a noninvasive method of measuring human fetal blood flow has become available. The aim of this study is to compare blood flow velocity waveforms at the fetal descending aorta and umbilical artery in normal and in patients with pregnancy induced hypertension. METHODS: Using a combination of linear array real-time and pulsed Doppler ultrasound, blood flow velocity measurements were carried out at the fetal descending aorta and umbilical artery in 35 normal pregnancies and 18 cases of pregnancy induced hypertensive patients. RESULTS: The mean systolic/diastolic ratio of umbilical artery and aorta was significantly higher in PIH patients than in normal pregnancies(3.8 +/- 0.81 versus 2.97 +/- 0.52, p<0.05) and to predict perinatal morbidity, umbilical velocimetry is more sensitive than that of descending thoracic aorta. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that umbilical artery velocimetry could be used as a marker to predict adverse perinatal outcome.
Aorta ; Aorta, Thoracic* ; Blood Flow Velocity ; Early Diagnosis ; Female ; Fetal Blood ; Fetal Growth Retardation ; Humans ; Hypertension, Pregnancy-Induced ; Pregnancy ; Rheology* ; Ultrasonography ; Umbilical Arteries

BACKGROUND: The angiotensin coverting enzyme(ACE) gene(encoding kininase II, EC3.4.15.1) contains a polymorphism based on the presence(insertion [I]) or absence(deletion[D]) within an intron of a 287bp nonsense DNA domain, resulting in three genotypes(D/I) and I/I homozygotes, and I/D heterozygotes). Alu insertion is associated with lowerACE level than deletion allele(D) and it was observed that D/D individuals have twice theACE activity of I/I patients. Pregnancy induced hypertension(PIH) probably results fromdominating pressor systems owing to loss of antagonizing vasodilator autacoids. AngiotensinII is an extremely potent arteriolar vasoconstrictor. Overactivity or failure to supressresponsiveness to the increased activity of angiotensin II, which is generated by ACE,would seem to be a reasonable basis for the vasoconstriction of PIH. The aim of this studyis to evaluate the relationship between ACE genotype and PIH. METHODS: Blood sampling was taken from 39 patients with PIH. The hypertensivedisorders, confirmed at postpartum follow up, were classified as gestational hypertensionwithout proteinuria, preeclampsia(mild and severe) and eclampsia. The diagnosis ofpreeclampsia was made according to the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology criteriaof hypertension and proteinuria(>300 mg/24 hr urine). Genomic DNA was extractedfrom blood sample. After PCR amplification of the respective fragments from intron 16 ofthe ACE gene, size fractionation and visualization by electrophoresis were performed. RESULTS: PIH group(including gestational hypertension, mild and severe preeclampsia: frequency of I allele 0.756 and D allele 0.244) had more I allele and less D allele whencompared with normal population(frequency of I allele 0.609 and D allele 0.391)(p < 0.05).And PIH group had more I/I homozygote individuals showing significant distortion fromHardy-Weinberg equilibrium of ACE genotype(p < 0.05). Moreover, severe preeclampsiagroup alon(frequency of I allele 0.759 and D allele 0.241) had more I allele and less Dallele when compared with normal population and had significantly more I/I homozygoteindividuals. CONCLUSION: As pregnancies with PIH had more ACE I allele and I/I homozygoteindividuals. PIH could be associated with I allele of the ACE gene. Considering the observedcodominant association between the D-I polymorphism and plasma ACE activity, our resultis in favor of the thesis that PIH primarily arises from defective synthsis of vasodilatingautacoids and renin-angiotensin system exerts secondary vasoconstrictive action. However,the relationship between ACE genotype and defective vasodilating mechanism during pregnancyis unknown at present.
Alleles ; Angiotensin II ; Angiotensins* ; Autacoids ; Diagnosis ; DNA ; Eclampsia ; Electrophoresis ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Genotype ; Gynecology ; Homozygote ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Hypertension, Pregnancy-Induced ; Introns ; Obstetrics ; Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A ; Plasma ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Postpartum Period ; Pre-Eclampsia ; Pregnancy* ; Proteinuria ; Renin-Angiotensin System ; Vasoconstriction