Active clinical trials for "Pre-Eclampsia"

Hypotension remains a common clinical problem after induction of spinal anesthesia for cesarean delivery. Maternal hypotension has been associated with considerable morbidity (maternal nausea and vomiting and fetal/neonatal acidemia). Traditionally, ephedrine has been the vasopressor of choice because of concerns about phenylephrine's potential adverse effect on uterine blood flow. This practice was based on animal studies which showed that ephedrine maintained cardiac output and uterine blood flow, while direct acting vasoconstrictors, e.g., phenylephrine, decreased uteroplacental perfusion. However, several recent studies have demonstrated that phenylephrine has similar efficacy to ephedrine for preventing and treating hypotension and may be associated with a lower incidence of fetal acidosis. All of these studies have been performed in healthy patients undergoing elective cesarean delivery. Preeclampsia complicates 5-6% of all pregnancies and is a significant contributor to maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality. Many preeclamptic patients require cesarean delivery of the infant. These patients often have uteroplacental insufficiency. Given the potential for significant hypotension after spinal anesthesia and its effect on an already compromised fetus, prevention of (relative) hypotension in preeclamptic patients is important. Spinal anesthesia in preeclamptic patients has been shown to have no adverse neonatal outcomes as compared to epidural anesthesia when hypotension is treated adequately. Due to problems related to management of the difficult airway and coagulopathy, both of which are more common in preeclamptic women, spinal anesthesia may be the preferred regional anesthesia technique. Recent studies have demonstrated that preeclamptic patients may experience less hypotension after spinal anesthesia than their healthy counterparts. To our knowledge, phenylephrine for the treatment of spinal anesthesia-induced hypotension has not been studied in women with preeclampsia. The aim of our study is to compare intravenous infusion regimens of phenylephrine versus ephedrine for the treatment of spinal anesthesia induced hypotension in preeclamptic patients undergoing cesarean delivery. The primary outcome variable is umbilical artery pH.

The purpose of this study is to identify whether sleep-disordered breathing - as measured by overnight polysomnography - is associated with pre-eclampsia and to determine whether use of positive airway pressure can improve nocturnal blood pressure.

Preeclampsia with new-onset hypertension and proteinuria is a pregnancy-specific disease that affects 5-7% of gestations usually after the 20th week. Most cases are mild, but severe cases exhibit multiple abnormalities in blood and maternal organ systems. Severe forms of preeclampsia/eclampsia are a major contributor to maternal death in the world. Delivery stops disease progression and recovery can begin. Patients with mild preeclampsia between 34-38 weeks' gestation usually are hospitalized for evaluation and close monitoring of signs, symptoms, and certain laboratory studies as reflectors of disease status. As inpatients mothers are monitored frequently for evidence of maternal or fetal compromise until 38 weeks gestation when delivery is accomplished. If a patient with mild preeclampsia labors after 34 weeks, no attempt is made to stop labor and delivery is undertaken. It remains unclear when during the third trimester that delivery should be accomplished for maximal maternal safety and minimal fetal risk. In this research project, we will identify patients who are at least 34 weeks pregnant with mild preeclampsia. After informed consent to participate in the trial, we will randomize participants to either be delivered immediately or treated with observation and maternal-fetal surveillance in hospital as described previously with delivery at 38 weeks. There will be 110 participants enrolled in each arm of the study for a total of 220 patients who will be managed in the Wiser Hospital. We intend to analyze a number of maternal and fetal outcomes including cost comparisons for the care of both mother and fetus in the two groups of randomized patients. The findings should impact care of the pregnant patient with mild preeclampsia in the third trimester with regard to how early and how late in gestation that delivery should be accomplished for optimal maternal and perinatal benefit.

Sleep disordered breathing (SDB) is a common problem in the adult population. By conservative estimates, 4% of the adult female population has SDB. SDB is a recognized cause of hypertension and treating SDB can improve blood pressure control in people with hypertension. More recently, research efforts have looked at SDB as a possible cause of pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH), a condition which complicates 10% of pregnancies. Traditionally, the best way to assess SDB required patients to spend a night sleeping in the Sleep Laboratory. This is inconvenient and for pregnant women often impossible to arrange, considering the short time frame that exists between time of PIH diagnosis and eventual delivery. Researchers at the University of Saskatchewan are now looking at whether an adequate sleep assessment can be performed at the bedside - either in a patient's home or on the hospital ward. The researchers will also look at different treatment options for sleep apnea, to see if these can improve blood pressure control in this patient population, and delay the need for early delivery. The information from this study may result in a detailed sleep assessment becoming part of the complete assessment of women with PIH. There is an association between sleep disordered breathing (SDB) and gestational hypertension (GHTN). Treatment for the SDB may represent an effective addition to the management of the cardiovascular and metabolic perturbations of GHTN We plan to assess women whether treating SDB with one of two methods will improve the management of GHTN. We will also assess if one method is more effective than the other.

Pre-eclampsia (PE) and intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) are common and important disorders of pregnancy. Both disorders are associated with an impairment of uteroplacental blood flow (UPBF). No effective therapy has been identified to reliably improve UPBF in these patients and typically, obstetric management involves interventional delivery, particularly problematic when remote from term. This study assess the hypothesis that epidural local anesthetics may improve UPBF in these patients.

The objective of the study is to determine whether administration of vitamin C (1.5g/6 hours) in the first three days post-partum reduces the amount of extravascular lung water assessed by lung ultrasound in patients with severe preeclampsia.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the efficacy and safety of norepinephrine for prophylaxis against postspinal anesthesia hypotension in parturients with preeclampsia undergoing cesarean section.

Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) is defined as a velocity of fetal growth less than the normal fetus growth potential for a specific neonate as per the race and gender. These neonates face many acute problems during peripartum and after birth .The causes of IUGR may be maternal, placental, fetal or genetic and also due to combination of any of these factors. Knowledge of etiologies of fetal growth restriction (FGR) is essential, so that future care can be targeted at prevention . It is apparent that FGR is primarily caused by placental dysfunction (PIH&PE), insufficiency that lead to reduced fetal growth overall. FGR is associated with lifelong burden of chronic diseases including metabolic, respiratory, cardiovascular and neurological deficits. Pre-eclampsia (PE) is diagnosed by the combined presentation of high blood pressure and proteinuria. New definitions also include maternal organ dysfunction, such as renal, liver, neurological or haematological complications, uteroplacental dysfunction, or FGR . In an attempt to correct fetus reduced supply the placenta release various cytokines and markers as Alpha-1 anti-trypsin (AAT). The Golgi apparatus secretes this cytokine in placental cytotrophoblast and blood vessels. AAT is antinflammatory antiprotease protective molecule. AAT rises during normal pregnancy. The suboptimal rise of AAT in pregnancy are liable for increased obstetrical complications like abortion, preterm labor. AAT levels were found decreased in placenta tissues from women with PE compared that of healthy women. Although AAT deficiency is associated with several pregnancy and placental disorders, little is known regarding AAT levels and PE .

The goal of this randomized, triple-masked clinical trial is to compare the effectiveness and safety of the use of ibuprofen versus dipyrone for postoperative analgesia in postpartum women with preeclampsia undergoing cesarean section. The main question it aims to answer are: Postoperative pain is similar; The frequency of acute kidney injury is similar. Researchers will compare one group that will receive dipyrone and the other group that will receive ibuprofen to see if Postoperative pain are different between groups or development of acute kidney injury each group is different.

An increasing number of scientific publications show that high blood pressure is being described in younger and younger children of African ancestry. It therefore makes sense to seek for the causes of this raised blood pressure in the in utero events. Recent studies have attributed and increased risk to cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors to the gestational environment. Pre-eclampsia (PE) is associated with endothelial dysfunction and oxidative stress in the mother which may influence how the developing foetus interacts with the external environment later on in life. Indeed scientific literature suggests that the foeto-placental vascular endothelial dysfunction may cause epigenetic alteration in the intrauterine environment of the foetus which may be at the origin of chronic diseases in children, thus predisposing them to risk factors of CVD. However, very few studies in women of African ancestry have been carried out to investigate whether or not children born of pre-eclamptic mothers of African ancestry are at risk of developing CVDs. Hence, the aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between pre-eclampsia and cardiovascular risk in children born to pre-eclampsic mothers in a rural South African population. A prospective case-control control design recruiting pre-eclamptic and normotensive pregnant women and their offspring subsequently will be used. CVD risk will be accessed in the pregnant women at 30 weeks of gestation and in the offspring at birth and then six weeks later. The difference in CVD risk between children born to these two groups of women will be assessed and the correlation between maternal and offspring risks for CVDs determined. It is expected that results obtained from this project will provide information on the cardiovascular effect of in utero exposure to PE in a population of African ancestry. This knowledge will advise policy on the management of women with pre-eclampsia with a view of preventing cardiovascular diseases in the offspring. Furthermore, the project will afford the opportunity for scientific research capacity building in students in Walter Sisulu University and foster collaboration between clinical and fundamental researchers.