ELEVATED MIDTRIMESTER MEAN ARTERIAL BLOOD-PRESSURE IN WOMEN WITH SEVERE PREECLAMPSIA

Although early identification of pregnant women who are at risk for se vere preeclampsia may help reduce maternal-perinatal sequelae, an adeq uate screening test for this disorder has not been described. The purp ose of this study was to determine if a group of women (n=57) who deve loped severe preeclampsia had a higher midtrimester mean arterial pres sure (MAP-2) than a matched group of women (n=57) who remained normote nsive throughout pregnancy and the puerperium. It was found that women who developed severe preeclampsia had a significantly higher MAP-2 th an normotensive women and significantly more preeclamptic subjects had an MAP-2 greater than or equal to 85 mmHg than did control subjects. Thus, an elevated MAP-2 may help identify women who are at risk for th e development of severe preeclampsia. Copyright (C) 1996 by W.B. Saund ers Company.