title: Ambulatory arterial stiffness index and nocturnal blood pressure dipping in pregnancies complicated by hypertension.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The study sets out to examine differences in arterial stiffness and nocturnal blood pressure dipping as outcomes in women with gestational hypertension compared with healthy pregnant women during pregnancy and 3 months after delivery.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We prospectively studied a cohort of 60 women during the third trimester of pregnancy; of them, 28 suffered pregnancy-induced hypertension or pre-eclampsia and 32 had uncomplicated singleton pregnancies. Subsequently, 42 of these were re-examined 3 months after delivery. In women with a hypertensive disorder, the nocturnal fall in blood pressure (dipping) was significantly smaller than in the normotensive group (systolic, P = 0·031; diastolic, P<0·001), but after pregnancy, this difference disappeared (systolic, P = 0·941; diastolic, P = 0·907). Ambulatory arterial stiffness index (AASI) assessed after pregnancy correlated inversely with fasting glucose level during pregnancy (r = -0·580, P = 0·018), both systolic (r = -0·651, P = 0·012) and diastolic (r = -0·687, P = 0·007) nocturnal dipping and total cholesterol concentration after pregnancy (r = -0·526, P = 0·036).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A hypertensive disorder during pregnancy was associated with a flattened circadian blood pressure response, which was restored after delivery. Higher arterial stiffness predicted the signs of postpartum metabolic syndrome and correlated also with non-dipping, especially postpartum.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Kuopio University Hospital, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland.
authors.forename: Henna
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kärkkäinen
authors.forename: Heli
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Saarelainen
authors.forename: Tomi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Laitinen
authors.forename: Nonna
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Heiskanen
authors.forename: Pirjo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Valtonen
authors.forename: Tiina
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Laitinen
authors.forename: Esko
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vanninen
authors.forename: Seppo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Heinonen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D001794:Blood Pressure; D018660:Blood Pressure Monitoring, Ambulatory; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D046110:Hypertension, Pregnancy-Induced / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011263:Pregnancy Trimester, Third; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors; D059289:Vascular Stiffness
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D001786:Blood Glucose; D002784:Cholesterol
keywords: ambulatory arterial stiffness index; blood pressure; dipping; pregnancy