Pregnancy-associated Hypertension Research Articles

Association between aneuploidy screening analytes and adverse outcomes in twin gestations.

To evaluate associations between serum analytes used for genetic screening and obstetric complications among twin pregnancies. This cohort included twins delivered at a tertiary care hospital from 2009 to 2017. Abnormal levels of pregnancy associated plasma protein (PAPP-A), first and second trimester human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), alpha fetoprotein (AFP), estriol, and inhibin, reported as multiples of the median (MoM), were defined as <5 %ile or >95 %ile for our cohort. Associations between abnormal analytes and preterm delivery, small for gestational age, and pregnancy-associated hypertension were calculated using Fisher's exact test. A total of 357 dichorionic/diamniotic and 123 monochorionic/diamniotic twins were included. Among dichorionic/diamniotic twins, elevated AFP (>3.70 MoM) was associated with increased preterm delivery <34weeks (44.4 vs. 16.5 %, p=0.007), while elevated inhibin (>4.95 MoM) was associated with increased preterm delivery<37weeks (94.1 vs. 58.8 %, p=0.004). For monochorionic/diamniotic twins, elevated inhibin (>6.34 MoM) was associated increased preterm delivery <34weeks (66.7 vs. 24.8 %, p=0.04) and hypertension (66.7 vs. 21.4 %, p=0.03). Selected abnormal analyte levels were associated with increased rates of adverse outcomes in twin pregnancies, which differed by chorionicity. Our findings assist providers in interpreting abnormal analyte levels in twin pregnancies and may help to identify those at increased risk for adverse outcomes.

Management of Pregnancy-Associated Hypertension at the Kalaban Coro Referral Health Centre, Bamako, Mali

We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study from JUNE 1 to NOVEMBER 30, a period of six months. Our study included all pregnant women admitted to both wards for hypertension during pregnancy during the study period. Age, occupation, risk factors, history, gestation, parity, laboratory tests, complications, and treatment were studied. Out of 2500 pregnant women admitted, 150 had hypertension during pregnancy, i.e. a prevalence of 6%. The age group between 20 and 30 was the most common with 49%. The pre-eclampsia type is the most common subgroup with 46% and the most dreaded because of its high feto-maternal morbidity and mortality. We recorded maternal complications such as eclampsia and HRP. It is known that poor quality of NPC, late detection of hypertension, low socio-economic level, poor adherence to treatment are factors increasing mortality and feto-maternal morbidity.

Temporal Trend in Maternal Morbidity and Comorbidity.

This study aimed to examine the temporal trends of severe maternal morbidity (SMM) in the U.S. population in relation to trends in maternal comorbidity. We performed a repeated cross-sectional analysis of data from individuals at 20 weeks' gestation or greater using U.S. birth certificate data from 2011 to 2021. Our primary outcome was SMM defined as the occurrence of intensive care unit admission, eclampsia, hysterectomy, uterine rupture, and blood product transfusion. We also examined the proportions of maternal comorbidity. Outcomes of the adjusted incidence rate ratio (IRR) with 99% confidence intervals (99% CIs) for 2021 m12 compared with 2011 m1 were calculated using negative binomial regression, controlling for predefined confounders. There were 42,504,125 births included in the analysis. From 2011 m1 to 2021 m12, there was a significant increase in the prevalence of advanced maternal age (35-39 [45%], 40-44 [29%], and ≥45 [43%] years), morbid obesity (body mass index 40-49.9 [66%], 50-59.9 [91%], and 60-69.9 [98%]), previous cesarean delivery (14%), chronic hypertension (104%), pregestational diabetes (64%), pregnancy-associated hypertension (240%), gestational diabetes (74%), and preterm delivery at 34 to 36 weeks (12%). There was a significant decrease in the incidence of multiple gestation (9%), preterm delivery at 22 to 27 weeks (9%), and preterm delivery at 20 to 21 weeks (22%). From 2011 m1 to 2021 m12, the incidence of SMM increased from 0.7 to 1.0% (crude IRR 1.60 [99% CI 1.54-1.66]). However, the trend was no longer statistically significant after controlling for confounders (adjusted IRR 1.01 [95% CI 0.81-1.27]). The main comorbidity that was associated with the increase in SMM was pregnancy-associated hypertension. The rise in the prevalence of comorbidity in pregnancy seems to fuel the rise in SMM. Interventions to prevent SMM should include the management and prevention of pregnancy-associated hypertension. · The rise in maternal mortality is related to morbidity.. · Pregnancy-associated hypertension increases morbidity.. · There were increasing trends in age, body mass index, and medical conditions..

Sex differences in growth and mortality in pregnancy-associated hypertension.

It is hypothesized that male fetuses prioritize growth, resulting in increased mortality, whereas females reduce growth in the presence of adversity. Preeclampsia reflects a chronic condition, in which fetuses have the opportunity to adjust growth. If females reduce their growth in response to preeclampsia, but males attempt to maintain growth at the cost of survival, we predict that differences in birthweight between preeclamptic and non-preeclamptic pregnancies will be greater among females, whereas differences in mortality will be greater among males. We analysed data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We compared pregnancies with pregnancy-associated hypertension (PAH) and controls. The difference in birthweight between pregnancies affected by PAH and controls varied by fetal sex and gestational age. Among pregnancies of White individuals, at 34-35 weeks, the difference between PAH and controls was higher among females, as predicted. However, this pattern was reversed earlier in pregnancy and around term. Such variation was not significant in Black pregnancies. In both Black and White pregnancies, early in gestation, males had lower odds of death in PAH pregnancies, but higher odds of death in control pregnancies, counter to our prediction. Later, males had higher odds of death in PAH and controls, although the increased odds of death in males was not higher in PAH pregnancies than in controls. Overall, the difference in birthweight between surviving and non-surviving infants was greater in males than in females, opposite to our prediction. The impact of PAH on birthweight and survival varies widely throughout gestation. Differences in birthweight and survival between male and female PAH and controls are generally not consistent with the hypothesis that males prioritize fetal growth more than females, and that this is a cause of increased mortality in males.

The Association between Fetal Growth Restriction and Maternal Morbidity.

This study aimed to compare adverse maternal outcomes between pregnancies complicated by fetal growth restriction (FGR) and those without FGR. This was a secondary analysis of the data from the Consortium on Safe Labor, which was conducted from 2002 to 2008 in 12 clinical centers with 19 hospitals across 9 American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists districts. We included singleton pregnancies without any maternal comorbidities or placenta abnormalities. We compared the outcomes of individuals with FGR with individuals without FGR. Our primary outcome was severe maternal morbidity. Our secondary outcome included various adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to obtain adjusted odds ratios (aOR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI), adjusting for confounders. Missing values for maternal age and body mass index were imputed. Of 199,611 individuals, 4,554 (2.3%) had FGR and 195,057 (97.7%) did not have FGR. Compared with the individuals without FGR, individuals with FGR had increased odds of severe maternal morbidity (0.6 vs. 1.3%; aOR: 1.97 [95% CI: 1.51-2.57]), cesarean delivery (27.7 vs. 41.2%; aOR: 2.31 [95% CI: 2.16-2.48]), pregnancy-associated hypertension (8.3 vs. 19.2%; aOR: 2.76 [95% CI: 2.55-2.99]), preeclampsia without severe features (3.2 vs. 4.7%; aOR: 1.45 [95% CI: 1.26-1.68]), preeclampsia with severe features (1.4 vs. 8.6%; aOR: 6.04 [95% CI: 5.39-6.76]), superimposed preeclampsia (18.3 vs. 30.2%; aOR: 1.99 [95% CI: 1.53-2.59]), neonatal intensive care unit admission (9.7 vs. 28.4%; aOR: 3.53 [95% CI: 3.28-3.8]), respiratory distress syndrome (2.2 vs. 7.7%; aOR: 3.57 [95% CI: 3.15-4.04]), transient tachypnea of the newborn (3.3 vs. 5.4%; aOR: 1.62 [95% CI: 1.40-1.87]), and neonatal sepsis (2.1 vs. 5.5%; aOR: 2.43 [95% CI: 2.10-2.80]). FGR was associated with increased odds of severe maternal outcomes in addition to adverse neonatal outcomes. · FGR is associated with cesarean section.. · FGR is not associated with severe maternal morbidity.. · FGR is related to pregnancy-associated hypertension.. · FGR is associated with neonatal morbidity..

Prediction of Pregnancy-Associated Hypertension Using a Scoring System: A Multicenter Cohort Study.

This study aimed to develop an early pregnancy risk scoring model for pregnancy-associated hypertension (PAH) based on maternal pre-pregnancy characteristics, such as mean arterial pressure (MAP), pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A) or neither. The perinatal databases of seven hospitals from January 2009 to December 2020 were randomly divided into a training set and a test set at a ratio of 70:30. The data of a total pregnant restricted population (women not taking aspirin during pregnancy) were analyzed separately. Three models (model 1, pre-pregnancy factors only; model 2, adding MAP; model 3, adding MAP and PAPP-A) and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) risk factors model were compared. A total of 2840 (8.11%) and 1550 (3.3%) women subsequently developed PAH and preterm PAH, respectively. Performances of models 2 and 3 with areas under the curve (AUC) over 0.82 in both total population and restricted population were superior to those of model 1 (with AUCs of 0.75 and 0.748, respectively) and the ACOG risk model (with AUCs of 0.66 and 0.66) for predicting PAH and preterm PAH. The final scoring system with model 2 for predicting PAH and preterm PAH showed moderate to good performance (AUCs of 0.78 and 0.79, respectively) in the test set. "A risk scoring model for PAH and preterm PAH with pre-pregnancy factors and MAP showed moderate to high performances. Further prospective studies for validating this scoring model with biomarkers and uterine artery Doppler or without them might be required".

Masked pregnancy-associated hypertension as a predictor of adverse outcomes

Masked hypertension has been described in nonpregnant populations as elevated blood pressure in the home setting that is not reproduced on clinical assessment. Patients with masked hypertension have a greater risk of cardiovascular morbidity than patients who have blood pressures within normal range or those with white coat hypertension. This study aimed to determine whether masked pregnancy-associated hypertension detected on Connected Maternity Online Monitoring, a remote home blood pressure monitoring system, is associated with higher rates of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy during delivery admission and maternal and neonatal morbidities. This was a retrospective cohort study of all patients on Connected Maternity Online Monitoring who delivered at 6 hospitals in a single healthcare system between October 2016 and December 2020. Patients were classified as having either normal blood pressure or masked pregnancy-associated hypertension. Masked pregnancy-associated hypertension was defined as remotely detected systolic blood pressure of ≥140 mm Hg or diastolic blood pressure of ≥90 mm Hg after 20 weeks of gestation on 2 occasions before diagnosis in a clinical setting. The chi-square test and Student t test were used for demographic and outcomes comparisons. Logistic regression was used to adjust outcomes by race, insurance, and body mass index. A total of 2430 deliveries were included in our analysis, including 165 deliveries that met the criteria for masked pregnancy-associated hypertension. Clinically established pregnancy-associated hypertension, defined at the time of delivery, was more common in the masked pregnancy-associated hypertension group than in the normotensive group (66% vs 10%; adjusted odds ratio, 17.2; 95% confidence interval, 11.91-24.81). Patients with masked pregnancy-associated hypertension had higher rates of preeclampsia with severe features on delivery admission than normotensive patients (28% vs 2%; adjusted odds ratio, 23.35; 95% confidence interval, 14.25-38.26). Preterm delivery (16% vs 7%; adjusted odds ratio, 2.47; 95% confidence interval, 1.55-3.94), cesarean delivery(38% vs 26%; adjusted odds ratio, 1.58; 95% confidence interval, 1.13-2.23), small for gestational age (11% vs 5%; adjusted odds ratio, 2.27; 95% confidence interval, 1.31-3.94), and neonatal intensive care unit admission (8% vs 4%; adjusted odds ratio, 2.20; 95% confidence interval, 1.18-4.09) were more common among patients with masked pregnancy-associated hypertension than among normotensive patients. With more outcomes research, remote blood pressure monitoring may prove to be an important tool in identifying pregnancies at risk of complications related to masked hypertension.

Beta-Blockers in Pregnancy: Clinical Update

The aim of this review was to determine the anticipated benefits and adverse effects of beta-blockers in pregnant women with hypertension. The other issue was to assess the possible adverse effects of beta-blockers for their babies and provide current consensus recommendations for appropriate selection and individualized antihypertensive treatment with beta-blockers in pregnancy-associated hypertension. Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy are a major cause of maternal and fetal morbidity, with consequences later in life. Certain beta-blockers are useful for ameliorating hypertension in pregnancy and may have a protective role in endothelial dysfunction. However, some aspects of beta-blocker use in pregnancy are contentious among providers. Evidence on their safety, although well documented, is variable, and recent research reveals areas of controversy. Besides intrauterine growth restriction, other neonatal and obstetric complications remain a concern and should be explored thoroughly. Attention is necessary when treating pregnancy-associated hypertensive disorders with beta-blockers. Specific beta-blockers are considered safe in pregnancy, although the associated effects in the fetus are not clearly known and evidence is lacking for many safety outcomes, other than intrauterine growth restriction. Nevertheless, beta-blockers with specific indications in pregnancy under individualized selection and monitoring may confer substantial improvements in pregnant women with hypertension.

Retinal small vessel narrowing in women with gestational diabetes, pregnancy-associated hypertension, or small-for-gestational age babies.

Gestational diabetes, pregnancy-associated hypertension and small-for-gestational age babies are all associated with impaired placental vascularisation. This study compared the effects of these conditions the systemic small vessel calibre that was examined in the retina. This was a cross-sectional observational study of consecutive pregnant women recruited from an antenatal clinic. Participants underwent a Glucose Tolerance Test, BP measurements, and were examined for small-for-gestational age babies as per national guidelines. They also underwent retinal photography with a non-mydriatic camera, and vessel calibres were measured with a validated semi-quantitative system at a retinal grading centre. Some participants also underwent testing of retinal vascular responsiveness to a flickering light. Women with gestational diabetes (n = 68) had a higher mean arterial pressure (85 ± 9 mm Hg) than normal pregnant women (n = 27, 80 ± 8 mmHg, p = 0.01). They also had smaller mean retinal arteriole (147.5 ± 13.6 μm and 159.7 ± 6.7 μm respectively, p < 0.01) and venular calibre (221.0 ± 13.4 μm and 232.8 ± 20.1 μm respectively, p < 0.01) than normal. However their babies' mean birth weights were not different from normal (3,311 ± 558 g and 3,401 ± 600 g respectively, p = 0.48). They also demonstrated a trend to reduced retinal arteriolar dilatation (3.5 ± 1.3%, n = 23) in response to vasodilatory stimuli (4.4 ± 1.8%) (n = 11) (p = 0.08) consistent with endothelial dysfunction. Women with pregnancy-associated hypertension (n = 35) had a higher mean arterial pressure (101 ± 12 mm Hg, p < 0.01), a smaller mean retinal arteriolar calibre (139.9 ± 10.6 μm, p < 0.0001), and a lower baby mean birth weight than for normal pregnancies (3,095 ± 443 g, p = 0.02). Likewise, women with small-for-gestational age babies (n = 31) had a higher mean arterial pressure (89 ± 19 mm Hg, p = 0.03), a smaller mean retinal arteriolar calibre (141.6 ± 12.8 μm, p < 0.01) and a lower baby mean birth weight than for normal pregnancies (2,468 ± 324 g, p < 0.0001). Mean retinal arterial calibre was reduced in women with gestational diabetes, pregnancy-associated hypertension or small-for-gestational age babies. The reduction in calibre was greatest in pregnancy-associated hypertension and small-for-gestational age babies. Systemic arteriole narrowing may contribute to the pathogenesis of placental vascular dysfunction in these conditions.

Metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease as a risk factor for adverse outcomes in subsequent pregnancy: a nationwide cohort study.

A recent international expert consensus opinion suggested that metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) replaces nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), since MAFLD is a better predictor of cardiovascular disease. We estimated the prevalence of FLD in fertile females and evaluated the clinical impact of either NAFLD or MAFLD on maternal and fetal outcomes during subsequent pregnancy. The study population included fertile females who underwent health examinations and became pregnant within 1year of health examination. Hepatic steatosis was defined as a fatty liver index of ≥ 30. The fertile females were divided into four groups: neither-FLD, NAFLD-only, MAFLD-only, and both-FLDs. During subsequent pregnancy, the risks of adverse pregnancy outcomes, including gestational diabetes, pregnancy-associated hypertension, preterm birth, and low birthweight, were compared among the four groups. The study population comprised 762,401 females, including 720,606 with neither-FLD, 318 with NAFLD-only, 14,371 with MAFLD-only, and 27,106 with both-FLDs. Compared to females with neither-FLD, the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes was higher in females with any FLD, with an adjusted OR of 1.73 (95% CI 1.25-2.41) in the NALFD-only group, 2.65 (2.53-2.77) in the MAFLD-only group, and 2.39 (2.31-2.48) in the both-FLDs group. Pregnancy outcomes (cesarean delivery, gestational diabetes, and low birthweight) were worse in females with MAFLD compared with NAFLD. Any form of FLD is a risk factor for adverse pregnancy outcomes. These data suggest that MAFLD is associated with a higher risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes for both mother and fetus than NAFLD.

Wave separation analysis-derived indexes obtained from radial and carotid tonometry in healthy pregnancy and pregnancy-associated hypertension: Comparison with pulse wave analysis-derived indexes

Increased wave reflections assessed by pulse wave analysis (PWA) was proposed as one of the potential culprits of hypertension seen in women with pregnancy-associated hypertension (PAH). However, this statement has never been confirmed with "Wave Separation Analysis" (WSA), a more sophisticated mathematical approach that analyzes the amplitude and interaction between forward and backward aortic pressure waveform components. To characterize potential changes in pressure wave components of PAH compared to healthy non-pregnant (NP) women and women with normal pregnancies (HP) by using WSA and compared these findings with PWA-derived indexes; secondarily, to evaluate differences in WSA-derived indexes between subgroups of PAH (i.e., preeclampsia [PE] and gestational hypertension [GH]). Using radial and carotid applanation tonometry, we quantified in HP (n = 10), PAH (n = 16), and NP (n = 401): (i) PWA-derived indexes; (ii) WSA-derived indexes: forward (Pf) and backward (Pb) waveform components, backward component arrival time (PbAT), reflection magnitude (RM = Pb/Pf) and index [RIx = Pb/(Pf + Pb)]. While PAH was associated with a higher Pf compared to HP and NP, Pb and PbAT were similar between the groups. Both GH and PE showed a higher Pf compared to HP, but only PE had a trend of presenting with higher Pb and lower PbAT compared to the other groups. Finally, PAH showed a trend of having lower RM and RIx compared to NP and HP, with no differences between GH and PE. PAH was associated with higher Pf, but not higher Pb, compared to NP and HP, although PE also demonstrated a trend of higher Pb.

Development of early prediction model for pregnancy-associated hypertension with graph-based semi-supervised learning

Clinical guidelines recommend several risk factors to identify women in early pregnancy at high risk of developing pregnancy-associated hypertension. However, these variables result in low predictive accuracy. Here, we developed a prediction model for pregnancy-associated hypertension using graph-based semi-supervised learning. This is a secondary analysis of a prospective study of healthy pregnant women. To develop the prediction model, we compared the prediction performances across five machine learning methods (semi-supervised learning with both labeled and unlabeled data, semi-supervised learning with labeled data only, logistic regression, support vector machine, and random forest) using three different variable sets: [a] variables from clinical guidelines, [b] selected important variables from the feature selection, and [c] all routine variables. Additionally, the proposed prediction model was compared with placental growth factor, a predictive biomarker for pregnancy-associated hypertension. The study population consisted of 1404 women, including 1347 women with complete follow-up (labeled data) and 57 women with incomplete follow-up (unlabeled data). Among the 1347 with complete follow-up, 2.4% (33/1347) developed pregnancy-associated HTN. Graph-based semi-supervised learning using top 11 variables achieved the best average prediction performance (mean area under the curve (AUC) of 0.89 in training set and 0.81 in test set), with higher sensitivity (72.7% vs 45.5% in test set) and similar specificity (80.0% vs 80.5% in test set) compared to risk factors from clinical guidelines. In addition, our proposed model with graph-based SSL had a higher performance than that of placental growth factor for total study population (AUC, 0.71 vs. 0.80, p < 0.001). In conclusion, we could accurately predict the development pregnancy-associated hypertension in early pregnancy through the use of routine clinical variables with the help of graph-based SSL.

Association between hypertensive disorders during pregnancy and elevated blood pressure in offspring: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Hypertensive disorders during pregnancy (HDP) are associated with cardiovascular disease among mothers and offspring. This meta-analysis was conducted to further explore the associations between maternal HDP and offspring blood pressure (BP). The authors performed a search strategy in PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane library from database inception to January 2022. Twenty-four studies regarding HDP were included, with pregnancy-associated hypertension (PAH), preeclampsia (PE), gestational hypertension (GH), and chronic hypertension included in 12, 16, 6, and 3 studies, respectively. Offspring who were exposed to HDP and PAH in utero had higher systolic BP (2.46mm Hg, 95% CI: 1.88-3.03mm Hg; 2.70mm Hg 95% CI: 1.89-3.51mm Hg) and diastolic BP (1.38mm Hg 95% CI: 0.94-1.83mm Hg; 1.39mm Hg 95% CI: 0.71-2.06mm Hg) than those birthed to normotensive mothers. The offspring exposure to PE, GH, and chronic hypertension had higher systolic BP by 1.90mm Hg (95% CI: 1.39-2.40mm Hg), 2.47mm Hg (95% CI: 1.59-3.35mm Hg), and 7.85mm Hg (95% CI: 4.10-11.61mm Hg), respectively, and higher diastolic BP by 0.99mm Hg (95% CI: 0.50-1.49mm Hg), 1.04mm Hg (95% CI: 0.60-1.47mm Hg), and 2.92mm Hg (95% CI: 0.98-4.86mm Hg), respectively. An Egger test and funnel plot confirmed no significant publication bias. In conclusion, offspring exposure to all subtypes of HDP in utero led to higher BP than no exposure. It is necessary to investigate the potential mechanisms to clarify the roles of genetic and environmental factors in these associations, which could provide insight on preventing hypertension and related cardiovascular disease.

Hypertensive Disorders in Pregnancy and Mortality at Delivery Hospitalization - United States, 2017-2019.

Hypertensive disorders in pregnancy (HDPs), defined as prepregnancy (chronic) or pregnancy-associated hypertension, are common pregnancy complications in the United States.* HDPs are strongly associated with severe maternal complications, such as heart attack and stroke (1), and are a leading cause of pregnancy-related death in the United States.† CDC analyzed nationally representative data from the National Inpatient Sample to calculate the annual prevalence of HDP among delivery hospitalizations and by maternal characteristics, and the percentage of in-hospital deaths with an HDP diagnosis code documented. During 2017-2019, the prevalence of HDP among delivery hospitalizations increased from 13.3% to 15.9%. The prevalence of pregnancy-associated hypertension increased from 10.8% in 2017 to 13.0% in 2019, while the prevalence of chronic hypertension increased from 2.0% to 2.3%. Prevalence of HDP was highest among delivery hospitalizations of non-Hispanic Black or African American (Black) women, non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) women, and women aged ≥35 years, residing in zip codes in the lowest median household income quartile, or delivering in hospitals in the South or the Midwest Census regions. Among deaths that occurred during delivery hospitalization, 31.6% had any HDP documented. Clinical guidance for reducing complications from HDP focuses on prompt identification and preventing progression to severe maternal complications through timely treatment (1). Recommendations for identifying and monitoring pregnant persons with hypertension include measuring blood pressure throughout pregnancy,§ including self-monitoring. Severe complications and mortality from HDP are preventable with equitable implementation of strategies to identify and monitor persons with HDP (1) and quality improvement initiatives to improve prompt treatment and increase awareness of urgent maternal warning signs (2).

Prediction of Emergency Cesarean Section Using Machine Learning Methods: Development and External Validation of a Nationwide Multicenter Dataset in Republic of Korea.

This study was a multicenter retrospective cohort study of term nulliparous women who underwent labor, and was conducted to develop an automated machine learning model for prediction of emergent cesarean section (CS) before onset of labor. Nine machine learning methods of logistic regression, random forest, Support Vector Machine (SVM), gradient boosting, extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost), light gradient boosting machine (LGBM), k-nearest neighbors (KNN), Voting, and Stacking were applied and compared for prediction of emergent CS during active labor. External validation was performed using a nationwide multicenter dataset for Korean fetal growth. A total of 6549 term nulliparous women was included in the analysis, and the emergent CS rate was 16.1%. The C-statistics values for KNN, Voting, XGBoost, Stacking, gradient boosting, random forest, LGBM, logistic regression, and SVM were 0.6, 0.69, 0.64, 0.59, 0.66, 0.68, 0.68, 0.7, and 0.69, respectively. The logistic regression model showed the best predictive performance with an accuracy of 0.78. The machine learning model identified nine significant variables of maternal age, height, weight at pre-pregnancy, pregnancy-associated hypertension, gestational age, and fetal sonographic findings. The C-statistic value for the logistic regression machine learning model in the external validation set (1391 term nulliparous women) was 0.69, with an overall accuracy of 0.68, a specificity of 0.83, and a sensitivity of 0.41. Machine learning algorithms with clinical and sonographic parameters at near term could be useful tools to predict individual risk of emergent CS during active labor in nulliparous women.

180 Dietary habits and pregnancy-associated hypertension in a sample of greek women

Introduction and aims: Pregnancy-associated hypertension (PAH) consist a hypertensive condition occurring after the 20th week of gestation. PAH’s global prevalence ranges from 8 to 10% worldwide and is a risk factor for maternal, fetal and neonatal complications. Aim of this study was to investigate any potential association between dietary habits of Greek pregnant women and PAH. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on a random sample of 193 pregnant women (mean age: 31.5±4.4 years old), who were followed-up in a private maternity hospital in Athens, Greece.

Abstract P140: Short-chain Fatty Acids Levels Are Lower In Women With Preeclampsia

Introduction: Preeclampsia (PE) is a pregnancy-associated hypertension disorder with high morbidity and mortality. Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs)—molecules produced by gut microbes—have been associated with hypertension, yet their relation to PE remains uncertain. Objectives: To review existing human studies that have examined associations of the major SCFAs (acetate, propionate, and butyrate) in pregnancy with the development of PE. Methods: Two reviewers independently searched online databases (EMBASE, PubMed, Web of Science, and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews) in January 2021 using the following terms: “short-chain fatty acids”, “acetic acid”, “butyric acid”, “propionic acid”, and “preeclampsia”. The final set of included studies had to: report associations of SCFAs with PE, be peer-reviewed, be written in English, and be in humans. Results: We screened the abstracts of 723 studies; 19 underwent full-text screening and 7 (980 total participants, 186 with PE) were included in the final review. All studies used a case-control design, but measured SCFAs from a range of bio-specimens (e.g., serum, plasma, feces, amniotic fluid) collected at distinct time points in pregnancy. Four studies showed that acetate was significantly (P&lt;0.05) lower in women with PE compared to healthy women; the other three studies also found acetate was lower in PE cases, albeit the association was non-significant. All three studies that investigated butyrate found it was lower in PE cases vs. controls. The same three studies also reported lower propionate among PE cases vs. controls, though only one of them was statistically significant. Results did not materially differ by bio-specimen or time-point in pregnancy. Conclusions: Current evidence, which derives only from case-control studies, indicates that lower SCFA levels in pregnancy (measured in amniotic fluid, blood, and feces) may be related to the development of PE. Large cohort studies are warranted to further investigate this association.

Center-To-Periphery Arterial Stiffness Gradient Is Attenuated and/or Reversed in Pregnancy-Associated Hypertension.

Background: Non-pregnant (NP) women have a progressive increase in arterial stiffness from central-to-peripheral arteries [“stiffness gradient” (SG)], which is of physiologic importance since excessive pulsatility is filtered by the creation of wave reflections. If the aorta gets stiff with minimal or no change in the periphery, the SG is dissipated transmitting pressure disturbances to the microcirculation. It remains unknown the status of the SG in both women with healthy pregnancies (HP) and complicated by pregnancy-associated hypertension (PAH).Objective: To determine whether HP and PAH are associated with changes in SG. Secondarily, we aim at identifying potential differences between the subgroups of PAH (pre-eclampsia and gestational hypertension).Methods: HP (n = 10), PAH (n = 16), and healthy NP women (n = 401, to be matched for age, and cardiovascular risk with the pregnant women) were included. Carotid-to-femoral (cfPWV) and carotid-to-radial pulse wave velocity (crPWV), common carotid artery (CCA) and brachial artery (BA) diameters and elastic modulus (EM), and regional (cfPWV/crPWV or “PWV ratio”) and local (CCA EM/BA EM or “EM ratio”) SG were quantified.Results: HP showed no changes in PWV ratio compared with NP, in the presence of significantly lower cfPWV and crPWV. HP exhibited higher arterial diameters and lower CCA EM/BA EM compared to NP, without differences with PAH. PAH was associated with a significant increase in the PWV ratio that exceeded the levels of both NP and HP, explained by a lower (although significant) reduction of cfPWV with respect to that observed in HP with respect to NP, and a higher reduction in crPWV with respect to that observed between HP and NP. The blunted reduction in cfPWV observed in PAH coincided with an increase in the CCA EM.Conclusions: Compared with NP, HP was associated with unchanged PWV ratio but with a reduction in CCA EM/BA EM, in the setting of a generalized drop in arterial stiffness. Compared with NP and HP, PAH was associated with an “exaggerated rise” in the PWV ratio without changes in CCA EM/BA EM, in the setting of a blunt reduction in cfPWV but exaggerated crPWV drop. The SG attenuation/reversal in PAH was mainly driven by pre-eclampsia.

Masked Pregnancy Associated Hypertension as a Predictor of Adverse Outcomes

Masked hypertension, defined as elevated blood pressure (BP) determined by remote self-assessment but not observed in the clinical setting, is associated with high rates of all-cause cardiovascular morbidity in the non-pregnant population. Masked pregnancy associated hypertension (PAH) is not well described. We aimed to determine the effect of masked PAH on delivery outcomes through remote BP monitoring.

Connected MOM: A Remote Blood Pressure Monitoring System for Early Detection of Pregnancy Associated Hypertension

Remote blood pressure (BP) monitoring in pregnancy leverages advances in mobile health, potentially offering effective identification of evolving pregnancy complications while decreasing the burden of an intensive perinatal visit regimen. Postnatal home BP assessment has improved adherence to monitoring at-risk patients. We sought to compare maternal and neonatal outcomes in patients who used a modified prenatal care regimen plus remote BP assessment tool to patients who received standard prenatal care.