High sensitivity test for the early diagnosis of gestational hypertension and preeclampsia. II. Circadian blood pressure variability in healthy and hypertensive pregnant women

The aim of this study was to describe the circadian pattern of non-invasive ambulatorily monitored blood pressure during the trimesters of pregnancy in clinically healthy women as well as in pregnant women who developed gestational hypertension or preeclampsia, and to compare sensitivity and specificity of diagnosis based on the average of the blood pressure series with the values obtained on the basis of casual measurements. We analyzed a total of 745 blood pressure series sampled by ambulatory monitoring for about 48 hours in each of several occasions in 189 women with uncomplicated pregnancies, 71 with gestational hypertension, and 29 with preeclampsia. The circadian pattern of BP variation for each group (complicated vs. uncomplicated pregnancies) and trimester of gestation was established by linear least-squares methods. Highly statistically different circadian patterns are demonstrated for systolic, mean arterial and diastolic blood pressure for both groups of pregnant women in all trimesters (P < 0.001 in all cases). Blood pressure decreases from the first trimester to the second and raises again in the third for healthy pregnant women, but continuously increases during gestation in women who developed gestational hypertension or preeclampsia. The differences in circadian rhythm-adjusted mean between complicated and uncomplicated pregnancies are highly statistically significant in all trimesters (P < .001). Sensitivity and specificity of diagnosing gestational hypertension based on the circadian mean are 73% and 48%, respectively, too low for a proper individualized diagnosis of gestational hypertension or preeclampsia. This study confirms the predictable circadian variability in blood pressure during gestation. The differences between healthy and complicated pregnancies can be observed as early as in the first trimester of pregnancy, but the use of the 24-hour mean BP does not provide a good approach for early diagnosis of gestational hypertension or preeclampsia.

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