FETAL DEVELOPMENT IN MILD AND SEVERE PRAEECLAMPSIA - CORRELATION TO MATERNAL LABORATORY VALUES AND BLOOD-FLOW VELOCIMETRY

During three and a half years we observed 83 single pregnancies all de livered by caesarean section. All of them had a mild (systolic blood p ressure >140, diastolic >90 and proteinuria >0,5 g/dl) or a severe pre eclampsia (systolic blood pressure >160, diastolic >100 and proteinuri a >3,0 g/dl). We found significantly twice as many abnormal uteroplace ntal blood flow velocities in the severe preeclampsia group than in th e mild one. These results draw us to the conclusion that possible path ological changing of the vessels is due to preeclampsia which does not need to correlate with a placental insufficiency and fetal growth ret ardation. An abnormal uteroplacental blood flow velocity connected wit h an abnormal umbilical blood flow velocity raises the fetal morbidity and the early childhood morbidity. Fetal outcome in mild compared to severe preeclampsia definitively shows a worse prognosis for those fet uses whose mother developed a prepartal severe preeclampsia. A distinc tly increased rate of cerebral haemorrhages, abnormal neurological sig ns, acute respiratory distress syndroms and bronchopulmonary dysplasia was found. Finally we show an additional risk for fetal outcome in ab sent or reverse enddiastolic flow velocity (AREDFV) in the severe pree clampsia group. We observed in the AREDFV group with severe preeclamps ia in comparison to a group of AREDFV without maternal preeclampsia mo re than twice as many cerebral haemorrhages, abnormal neurological sig ns and bronchopulmonary dysplasia.