Maternal Cardiac Function During Pregnancy in Predicting Preeclampsia: A Narrative Review

Background/Objectives: Preeclampsia is a major hypertensive disorder that affects pregnant women. It is a leading cause of maternal morbidity and mortality. The exact underlying pathophysiological mechanisms that lead to the occurrence of preeclampsia are still uncertain; however, many studies have underscored several maternal contributing factors. Our review focuses on maternal cardiac hemodynamic parameters in predicting the onset of preeclampsia. Results: Multiple studies have scrutinized the association between preeclampsia and maternal factors including cardiac function. Numerous maternal cardiac hemodynamic parameters were highlighted as significant predictors of the onset of preeclampsia including cardiac output, stroke volume, mean arterial pressure, systematic vascular resistance, and uterine artery pulsatility index. These parameters, except for cardiac output, were significantly increased in women with preeclampsia in comparison to normotensive ones, with mild discrepancies in literature findings concerning SVR. Moreover, twin pregnancies were more likely to develop preeclampsia, and clear discrepancies were reported in maternal cardiac function parameters based on parity status and early- versus late-onset preeclampsia. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that maternal cardiac hemodynamics could be crucial predictors of preeclampsia. However, due to the heterogeneity evident across all included studies that limited our synthesis of the findings, further research is needed to reach more valid and confirmatory results in order to incorporate the necessary clinical measures that would aid in the prevention and timely management of preeclampsia.