title: Reduced baroreceptor sensitivity and elasticity of the carotid artery in a preeclamptic patient.
abstract: Baroreflex sensitivity, distensibility coefficient, and intima-media thickness (IMT) of the common carotid artery were determined in a preeclamptic patient during 1st and 3rd trimesters as well as after childbirth. From the beginning of her pregnancy, baroreflex sensitivity and distensibility coefficient of the carotid artery exhibited a parallel decline, whereas the IMT increased as compared with normotensive pregnancies. The values of all parameters examined returned to their initial levels after 14 weeks of delivery. These results suggest that augmented IMT and carotid stiffness coupled to baroreceptor dysfunction may have contributed to the perturbation of blood pressure control in our preeclamptic patient.
authors.affiliation: 1st Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Faculty of Medicine, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary. rigo@noi1.sote.hu
authors.forename: János
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rigó
authors.forename: Zsuzsanna
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Visontai
authors.forename: Beatrix
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mersich
authors.forename: Márk
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kollai
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D002339:Carotid Arteries / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011311:Pressoreceptors / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D017539:Tunica Intima / Q000473:pathology