title: An unusual cause of hypertension in pregnancy.
abstract: Aortic coarctation is an unusual cause of hypertension in pregnancy. We report the case of a 34-year-old woman with severe hypertension after surgical repair of aortic coarctation in childhood. An MRI showed a residual stenosis of the aortic arch and a small aneurysm. Pregnant postcoarctectomy patients are at an increased risk for developing hypertension during pregnancy due to residual aortic gradients and abnormal vascular reactivity of the precoarctation vessels. Women after repair of aortic coarctation should be closely monitored for blood pressure during pregnancy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. J.W.Vriend@amc.uva.nl
authors.forename: Joris W J
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Vriend
authors.forename: Gert A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: van Montfrans
authors.forename: Joris A M
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: van der Post
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lam
authors.forename: Barbara J M
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Mulder
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001013:Aorta, Thoracic / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D001017:Aortic Coarctation / Q000150:complications* / Q000601:surgery; D001024:Aortic Valve Stenosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D004452:Echocardiography; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D011247:Pregnancy; D011249:Pregnancy Complications, Cardiovascular / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology*