From the Journals

Ambulatory BP monitoring shows hypertension prevalence 1 year after preeclampsia

Publish date: February 6, 2018
By
Dan Watson

 

FROM HYPERTENSION

Office blood pressure measurement is not sufficient monitoring for women who have experienced severe preeclampsia, as it misses forms of hypertension commonly experienced in that population, according to a study published Feb. 5 in Hypertension.

Researchers at Erasmus University, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, conducted a retrospective cohort study of 200 women who underwent 24-hour ambulatory BP monitoring and office BP measurement at a 1-year follow-up for delivery with severe preeclampsia. Measurements were taken between 9 months and 15 months after delivery.

preeclampsia copyright Sohel_Parvez_Haque/Thinkstock
The 24-hour monitoring found that 64 (32%) and 85 (43%) of the 200 women had daytime and nighttime hypertension, respectively, but only 48 (24%) also would have been found to be hypertensive solely with office measurement. Forty-one women (21%) in the study previously had been diagnosed with hypertension and were receiving treatment.

“Current clinical guidelines on the prevention of [cardiovascular disease] and stroke after a hypertensive pregnancy disorder lack advice on [ambulatory BP monitoring] after delivery. We think that [ambulatory BP monitoring] should be offered to all women who experienced severe preeclampsia for more accurate BP assessment,” wrote Laura Benschop, MD, and her coauthors.

SOURCE: Benschop L et al. Hypertension. 2018 Feb;71:491-8.

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