title: Pre-eclampsia: Definitions, paternal contributions and a four stage model.
abstract: It is 40 years since I started researching pre-eclampsia. Much has changed but some old problems persist. These include the debate of how to define a syndrome, the inheritance and genetics of pre-eclampsia, why primiparae are so susceptible and is primipaternity important? If it is, in a multiparous pregnancy (after changing partners), the old hypothesis that pre-eclampsia is the outcome of failed maternal immunoregulation to accommodate nature's transplant - the fetus - must be confronted. These points are briefly reviewed and a four stage model of pre-eclampsia derived.
authors.affiliation: Nuffield Department CWG of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK.
authors.forename: C W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Redman