Maternal and Perinatal Outcomes of Pregnancies Complicated by Chronic Hypertension Followed at a Referral Hospital

Abstract

Abstract Objective To assess maternal and perinatal outcomes of pregnancies in women with chronic hypertension (CH). Methods Retrospective cohort of women with CH followed at a referral center for a 5 year period (2012-2017). Data were obtained from medical charts review and described as means and frequencies, and a Poisson regression was performed to identify factors independently associated to the occurrence of superimposed preeclampsia (sPE). Results A total of 385 women were included in the present study; the majority were > than 30 years old, multiparous, mostly white and obese before pregnancy. One third had pre-eclampsia (PE) in a previous pregnancy and 17% of them had organ damage associated with hypertension, mainly kidney dysfunction. A total of 85% of the patients used aspirin and calcium carbonate for pre-eclampsia prophylaxis and our frequency of sPE was 40%, with an early onset (32.98 ± 6.14 weeks). Of those, 40% had severe features of PE, including 5 cases of HELLP syndrome; however, no cases of eclampsia or maternal death were reported. C-section incidence was high, gestational age at birth was 36 weeks, and nearly a third (115 cases) of newborns had complications at birth One third of the women remained using antihypertensive drugs after pregnancy. Conclusion Chronic hypertension is related with the high occurrence of PE, C-sections, prematurity and neonatal complications. Close surveillance and multidisciplinary care are important for early diagnosis of complications.

Keywords

• preeclampsia
• chronic hypertension
• obstetrics
• maternal morbidity
• complications of pregnancy