Cardiovascular alterations in toxemia

Abstract

Alterations in cardiac indices, uteroplacental blood turnover rate, plasma volume, and vascular sensitivity to infused angiotensin II amide were determined in a group of normal, chronic hypertensive, and toxemic pregnant patients at or near term. The values for the measured parameters in the toxemic and in chronic hypertensive women differed in the same direction from those for the normal patients. The magnitude of the differences between the chronic hypertensive and toxemic patients was not substantial enough to allow distinctions to be made between these two groups of patients. These findings suggest that the pathophysiologic alterations of cardiovascular function are similar if not the same in these two hypertensive complications of human pregnancy.