title: Doppler echocardiographic assessment of pregnant women with chronic arterial hypertension.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess structural and functional cardiac changes in asymptomatic pregnant women with chronic arterial hypertension (CAH).
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred pregnant women with CAH underwent conventional Doppler echocardiography. The Student t test was used to compare them with 29 normotensive pregnant women (NT) in their third gestational trimester.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Systolic (SBP; mmHg) and diastolic (DBP; mmHg) blood pressure values were higher (p<0.001) in the CAH pregnant women (SBP: 139+/-19 and DBP: 92+/- 18) as compared with those of the NT group (SBP: 112+/-10 and DBP: 74+/-9). A significant enlargement of the left atrium (4.10+/-0.48 cm vs 3.6+/-0.3 cm; p<0.001) and of the left ventricular normalized mass (59.6+/-19.7 g/cm2,7 vs 41.9+/-3.4 g/cm2,7; p<0.001) was observed. Cardiac output (CO, L/min) and systolic volume (SV, mL) were significantly higher in the CAH group (CO: 6.0+/-1.54 vs 4.9+/-2.1, p<0.01; SV: 77.3+/-19.8 vs 56.5+/-25.8, p<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Chronic hypertensive pregnant women have structural and functional cardiac changes that justify routine cardiologic assessment, even in the absence of cardiopulmonary symptoms.
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Medicina de Botucatu, UNESP, Botucatu, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Nádia Cristiane
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: de Mattia
authors.forename: Regina Lúcia
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Barbin
authors.forename: Vera Therezinha M
authors.initials: VT
authors.lastname: Borges
authors.forename: José Carlos
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Peraçoli
authors.forename: Beatriz B
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Matsubara
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002908:Chronic Disease; D015150:Echocardiography, Doppler; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011249:Pregnancy Complications, Cardiovascular / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D018487:Ventricular Dysfunction, Left / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology