Prehypertension in Early Pregnancy: What is the Significance?

Objective Hypertensive disorders play a significant role in maternal morbidity and mortality. There is limited data on prehypertension (pre-HTN) during the first half of pregnancy. We sought to examine the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes in patients with prehypertension in early pregnancy (<20 weeks' gestational age). Study Design A retrospective cohort study of 377 patients between 2013 and 2014. Patients were divided based on the highest blood pressure in early pregnancy, as defined per the JNC-7 criteria. There were 261 control patients (69.2%), 95 (25.2%) pre-HTN patients, and 21 (5.6%) chronic hypertension (CHTN) patients. The groups were compared using X², Fisher's Exact, Student t-test, and Mann-Whitney U test with p < 0.05 used as significance. Results Patients with pre-HTN delivered earlier (38.8 ± 1.9 weeks vs 39.3 ± 1.7 weeks), had more pregnancy related hypertension (odds ratio [OR], 4.62; confidence interval [CI], 2.30-9.25; p < 0.01) and composite maternal adverse outcomes (OR, 2. 10; 95% CI, 1.30-3.41; p < 0.01), NICU admission (OR, 2.21; 95% CI, 1.14-4.26; p = 0.02), neonatal sepsis (OR, 6.12; 95% CI, 2.23-16.82; p < 0.01), and composite neonatal adverse outcomes (OR, 2.05; 95% CI, 1.20-3.49; p < 0.01). Conclusion Although women with pre-HTN are currently classified as normal in obstetrics, they are more similar to women with CHTN. Pre-HTN in the first half of pregnancy increases the likelihood of adverse outcomes.