Blood pressure rises more in pre-eclampsia than normal pregnancy when acral skin is locally cooled

Abstract

Objective: Investigate blood pressure response to acral skin vasoconstriction in healthy and pre-eclamptic pregnancies. Methods: Healthy women were investigated from gestational week 8 to 52 weeks postpartum and pre-eclampsia subjects at diagnosis. Finger artery ultrasound Doppler, forearm laser Doppler fluximetry and photoplethysmographic blood pressure were recorded. Hand cooling to 19 °C induced vasoconstriction. Results: Acral skin vasoconstriction increases blood pressure from 16 weeks until 12 weeks postpartum (p ≤ 0.01), with greatest responses in pre-eclampsia (p = 0.047). Forearm skin perfusion is higher in pre-eclampsia (p = 0.04). Conclusion: Acral skin vasoconstriction raises blood pressure in pregnancy, particularly in pre-eclampsia. Pregnancy accentuates important functional differences within skin.