title: Ambulatory monitoring of blood pressure in normal pregnancy.
abstract: The definition of hypertensive disorders in pregnancy is plagued by many difficulties, in part related to the limits of intermittent clinic readings of blood pressure. In order to better define the evolution of arterial blood pressure in normal subjects during normal pregnancy, casual and ambulatory (Spacelabs 90207, n = 22 or Diasys 200, n = 26) measurements of blood pressure were performed at gestational months 3, 6, and 9, in 48 normal women aged 18 to 39, both nulliparas (n = 19) and multiparas (n = 29). Ambulatory blood pressure levels were lowest in the first gestational trimester (24-hour mean: 104 +/- 8/63 +/- 6 mm Hg) and rose by a small increment during the last trimester (109 +/- 8/67 +/- 7 mm Hg at 8 months). Mean daytime ambulatory pressure was almost superimposable to clinic measurements at the three time points. A day-night variation in blood pressure level was detectable in all subjects at each recording. It is concluded that during normal pregnancy, ambulatory blood pressure levels were highest in the day and lowest at night at all gestational ages and increased only minimally before the ninth month. Reference values, as defined by the percentile distribution of daytime and nighttime systolic and diastolic blood pressure, may help define more precisely an alteration in the level and/or the circadian variation of arterial blood pressure during abnormal pregnancies.
authors.affiliation: Hôtel-Dieu Mont-Saint-Martin, France.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Contard
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chanudet
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Coisne
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Battistella
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Marichal
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pitiot
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: de Gaudemaris
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ribstein
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001795:Blood Pressure Determination; D001835:Body Weight; D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000502:physiology*; D011261:Pregnancy Trimester, First; D011262:Pregnancy Trimester, Second; D011263:Pregnancy Trimester, Third; D012016:Reference Values