title: Chronic Hypertension and Pregnancy.
abstract: Chronic hypertension is frequently encountered during pregnancy and needs to be distinguished from other hypertensive complications of pregnancy, such as preeclampsia and gestational hypertension. The prevalence of this pregnancy complication is attributable to the increased prevalence of obesity and maternal age at childbearing. Women with chronic arterial hypertension are at increased risk for several pregnancy complications, including superimposed preeclampsia, caesarean delivery, preterm delivery <37 weeks gestation, birth weight <2500 g, neonatal unit admission, and perinatal death. Therefore, specialized attention should be given to these women as part of family planning before conception to provide counseling about the pregnancy risks, to inform about surveillance of fetal well-being, to determine the timing of delivery, and to optimize BP control before, during, and after birth.
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Biology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, 4200-319, Porto, Portugal. luis.guedes.martins@gmail.com.|Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto, 4200-319, Porto, Portugal. luis.guedes.martins@gmail.com.|Departamento da Mulher e da Medicina Reprodutiva, Centro Hospitalar do Porto EPE, Largo Prof. Abel Salazar, 4099-001, Porto, Portugal. luis.guedes.martins@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Luís
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Guedes-Martins
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D062186:Arterial Pressure / Q000187:drug effects; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D046110:Hypertension, Pregnancy-Induced / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D018743:Perinatal Care; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D015430:Weight Gain
chemical_list: D000959:Antihypertensive Agents
keywords: Blood pressure; Chronic arterial hypertension; Pregnancy