Active clinical trials for "Pre-Eclampsia"

New-onset raised blood pressure (BP) affects about one in ten pregnancies. For some women, raised BP is an indication of pre-eclampsia: newly arising high blood pressure in pregnancy combined with protein leaking into the urine. After birth, women's BP remains elevated for a period of time, but in most cases returns to normal over 2-12 weeks. During this period medication needs to be adjusted to achieve the correct control. Research suggests that better BP control during this period is associated with improved long-term health outcomes. The investigators would like to find out whether home BP monitoring, and self-adjustment of medications according to an individualised protocol, could improve BP control and patient satisfaction. This pilot study has been set up to inform the planning of a large-scale multi-centre randomised controlled trial by testing the feasibility of the protocol. The investigators want to increase our experience of applying this management approach in this subset of patients; to select the most appropriate primary outcome measure and to estimate the effect size of this intervention; to assess recruitment potential; and to evaluate feasibility of coordinating this trial across several centres. The primary objective of the large-scale trial will be to determine whether the self-management approach can improve BP control in women with medicated hypertensive disorders of pregnancy in the postnatal period. Women recruited to the study will be randomly assigned to one of two groups: self-management or usual care. Participants allocated to 'usual care' will have their BP monitored and medication adjusted by their general practitioner (GP) and midwife as normal. Participants allocated to the 'self-management' group will use a home BP monitor daily following discharge from hospital after birth. They will be provided with an individualised schedule for gradually decreasing their medication(s) in line with their BP readings. Women will be followed up for 6 months.

Preeclampsia is associated with significant maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality. Early identification and subsequent management of patients at risk of developing preeclampsia presents an ongoing challenge in prenatal care. Some at risk pregnancies may be identified from: serum screening abnormalities in the first or second trimester placental shape and texture at the 18-20 anatomical ultrasound uterine artery blood flow. Early identification and effective treatment of patients would permit the safe completion of the pregnancy for the mother and infant. Recent advances in non-invasive cardiovascular monitoring have enabled the study of maternal hemodynamics in normal and at-risk pregnancies. This study hopes to identify the earliest significant changes in maternal hemodynamics which may allow targeted therapeutic interventions in patients at high risk of developing preeclampsia. The hypothesis of this study is that systemic vascular resistance rises during the pre-clinical phase of preeclampsia and this can be captured using non invasive bioreactance technology. Treatment of the abnormally high vascular tone may decrease the severity and postpone the onset of clinical disease.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of balloon dilatation (Foley) with vaginal misoprostol for cervical ripening and induction of labor. METHOD: a randomized clinical assay has been performed with 160 women with indication of induction of labor, randomly divided in two groups, 80 for Foley catheter and 80 for misoprostol.

Magnesium sulfate is the ideal drug for seizures prophilaxis in preeclampsia. The ideal duration of this treatment after delivery is still to be established. The hypothesis is that in stable patients a shorter course of treatment is possible without prejudice to the mother.

This study is intended to assess the efficacy of L-arginine supplementation with antioxidant vitamins delivered in a medical food in reducing the incidence of preeclampsia in a high-risk population.

Pre-eclampsia complicates 7 - 10% of pregnancies and constitutes a leading cause of fetal growth retardation and premature birth, as well as infant and maternal morbidity and mortality. The kidney is the primary site of injury resulting in high blood pressure, loss of protein into the urine and decreased kidney function. The release of vasoconstrictors over vasodilators from an abnormal placenta may underlie pre-eclampsia. Nitric Oxide (NO) is an important vasodilator that is thought to play an important role in the kidneys ability to accommodate to a healthy pregnancy. Normal pregnancy in the rat is accompanied by increased production of NO and its second messenger cGMP. There is a parallel increase in renal expression of constitutive nitric oxide synthase (NOS), the enzyme that generates NO from arginine. In the pregnant rat, an infusion of NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME), an exogenous inhibitor of NOS, has been shown to replicate some of the hemodynamic features of the syndrome of pre-eclampsia. In a recent animal study, L-arginine supplementation reversed the adverse effects of L-NAME on pregnancy by attenuating the high blood pressure and by significantly decreasing protein loss in the urine. To date, studies of the use of L-arginine supplementation to treat women with pre-eclampsia have been small or uncontrolled and have only assessed blood pressure as a primary outcome measure. We report a single center, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of L-arginine supplementation for the treatment of pre-eclampsia, in which precise physiological techniques have been utilized to assess kidney dysfunction in addition to blood pressure.

Magnesium sulfate is used for seizure prophylaxis in pregnancies complicated by preeclampsia. There is debate as to how long to continue this therapy after delivery of the pregnancy. Different schemes have been offered to shorten the exposure to magnesium sulfate after delivery, with little data. We seek to investigate the effect of shortened magnesium sulfate therapy on the post-partum recovery phase of mild preeclampsia. Our hypothesis was that shortened therapy (12 hours versus the traditional 24 hours post-partum) has no effect on disease course, and will result in significantly shorter exposure to magnesium sulfate.

The purpose of study is to find the effects of autogenic training on blood pressure and anxiety in preeclampsia females. There is little of evidence to allow conclusions about effectiveness of autogenic training on preeclampsia Therefore this study will add to the growing body of knowledge that if autogenic training is better than any other protocol for preeclampsia and anxiety then it should be a choice of therapy treatment. This study can provide help pregnant females and other society members to think about treatment of preeclampsia and anxiety other than medical approach.

Profound and concomitant cardiovascular hemodynamic changes, necessary to support fetoplacental development and its increasing supply demands, occur during a physiological pregnancy characterized by an increase in cardiac output, heart rate and plasma volume, and fall in vascular resistance and blood pressure. The result of these changes is a volume overload that will lead to a compensatory transient left ventricular eccentric hypertrophy. This, together with the pro-inflammatory state typical of pregnancy, represents the pregnancy as a stress-test for the maternal cardiovascular system. Pregnancies complicated by hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP), particularly those with early onset and/or complicated by intrauterine fetal growth restriction (FGR), are characterized by a cardiovascular maladaptation. Women who experienced HDP in pregnancy, especially pre-eclampsia (PE), more often develop later in life ischemic heart disease, hypertension and stroke, obesity, dyslipidemia, and end-stage renal disease. Regardless its clinical impact, very little knowledge is available on the mechanisms by which PE could lead to cardiovascular disease (CVD), and, especially, to heart failure after pregnancy. Preliminary results suggest a cross-talk between pregnancy-induced biomarkers and cardio-vascular system. Particularly, cultures of neonatal rat cardiomyocytes and fibroblasts were used to investigate the role of the serum of women with HDP in regulating their proliferation. 5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine (EdU) was administered to label DNA synthesis in proliferating cells. After 3 days of in vitro culture, EdU incorporation was analyzed upon immunofluorescence staining using specific antibodies by high content microscopy. A possible protective effect exerted by the selected sera against apoptosis was evaluated, as well, by Caspase activation. Moreover, the effect of cardiomyocytes and fibroblasts proliferation and apoptosis on maternal hemodynamic parameters was evaluated using median regression models. These data show that the serum of women with HDP triggers a net increase in the percentage of proliferating cardiomyocytes compared to controls. Moreover, there were relationship between cardiomyocytes and fibroblasts proliferation and maternal hemodynamics parameters thus, supporting the hypothesis that the serum of women with HDP may contain factors capable of stimulating cardiac cells in response to the cardiovascular stress-test

Preterm birth (PTB) rates in the US are among the highest in wealthy nations across the globe, and they are particularly high in our most socio-economically disadvantaged populations. PTB increases lifelong morbidity and mortality at significant economic cost. In addition to neonates born too early, small for gestational infants predict the greatest risk for chronic disease in the neonate (F1 generation) through adulthood. Single lifestyle, nutrient, or medical interventions intended to reduce PTB have produced mixed results, but combined micronutrient interventions appear more successful. The investigators experienced a reduced preterm birth rate and combined preeclampsia, gestational diabetes and small for gestational age rate in a 50% Medicaid population by providing targeted micro/macronutrient, genomic and lifestyle evaluation with personalized intervention in a trimester-by-trimester group educational setting (1). The model requires validation in more diverse populations. This study will be applied in a 100% Medicaid population with greater ethnic diversity. Participation will be voluntary, offered to all pregnant participants enrolling at 18 weeks gestation or earlier with the comparator group being those participants who decline the intervention. The study population will receive targeted biomarker evaluation including serum 25-OH D, zinc and carnitine levels, dried blood spot omega 3 fatty acids and select gene variant analysis. Virtual group nutrition and lifestyle education visits conducted by the nutritionist cluster participants in the same trimester allowing for personalization of the nutrition and lifestyle plan based on the data collected and adapted to the specific needs of the trimester. Each study participant will receive individualized nutrient supplementation and probiotic supplementation. Anticipated performance improvement endpoints are significant reduction of preterm birth and combined incidence of preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, small for gestational age, neonatal morbidities and related health care expenses. The investigators will explore gene variants' role in directing nutrition, lifestyle and toxic exposure interventions and in predicting adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes.