Exercise in Pregnancy for Reduction of Blood Pressure in Obese Patients
HypertensionPregnancy2 morePreeclampsia and other high blood pressure disorders of pregnancy are a significant cause of both maternal and fetal complications of pregnancy. To date, there is no known "cure" for preeclampsia, but studies have shown that exercise may lower the risk of preeclampsia and high blood pressure disorders in pregnancy. Resistance training also lowers blood pressure, and may be easier to perform in a pregnant population, leading to higher compliance. The investigators propose to perform a novel prospective study of a resistance training regimen on blood pressure in pregnant patients at high risk for developing preeclampsia or high blood pressure.
Coenzyme Q10 Supplementation and Development of Preeclampsia
PreeclampsiaAs preeclampsia is a disease specially affecting young and primiparous women, and due to the fact that we found previously in several studies a prevalence of 12%, to ensure a confidence of 95% and a power of 80%, it is necessary to include a total of 190 women (95 in each arm), therefore it is planned to recluse a total of 200 pregnant women currently attending to the outpatients clinic at the HGOIA for pregnancy control before than week 20 of gestation. From each one of those women the clinical research team will obtain an obstetric, anthropometric and clinical record following the current regulations of the Ecuadorian Public Health Ministry. All women included will be under a detailed prenatal control every 4 weeks from week 20 of pregnancy, this will include gestational age, weight, umbilical perimeter, uterine altitude, fetal cardiac frequency and maternal blood pressure. In addition, in each schedule visit an urine test will be done (to discard proteinuria), also a venous blood sample (10 ml) in heparinized tubes will be taken and immediately transported to the Biomedical Center for centrifugation and plasma isolation. During week 20, all women will be assigned (using a randomized numbers table) to one of the following groups: a) intervention group, that will received two capsules of 100 mg of coenzyme Q10 twice daily up to delivery; or b) control group, that will receive two capsules of the correspondent placebo twice daily up to delivery. Both, active and placebo capsules will be manufactured by the same provider (Jarrow Formulas, Los Angeles, CA, USA) to guarantee that weight, size, odor and color are similar. Absolutely all women participating in the study will know all contact information of the clinical team and will be allowed to request medical care as frequent as they needed, independently of establish obstetrical controls. Preeclampsia diagnosis will be performed only by clinical researchers and based on a persistent high blood pressure higher than 140/90 mmHg and proteinuria higher than 300 mg/24 hours. Coenzyme Q10 will be measured using a high performance liquid chromatography equipment (HPLC) and the method previously described and validated by our group. The hypothesis is that in the group receiving CoQ10 supplementation will be less cases of preeclampsia compared to placebo.
Treatment Targets for Chronic Hypertension in Pregnancy
Pregnancy ToxemiaHypertension1 moreThis project is a clinical study of women with high blood pressure who become pregnant. Preeclampsia is a syndrome developing at the end of a pregnancy characterized by an abrupt rise in blood pressure (BP), blood clotting and kidney dysfunction, and may result in premature delivery, infant death, and maternal bleeding, kidney failure and stroke. The goal is to determine whether lowering blood pressure to a normal pressure of 120/80 is associated with a lower incidence of preeclampsia. Women who are completely healthy have a 5% chance of developing preeclampsia, however women with preexisting high blood pressure have a 25% chance of this complication. Several studies, including our own suggest that higher blood pressure early in pregnancy (<20 weeks) is associated with an even higher risk of preeclampsia. Currently we, the researchers at Weill Medical College of Cornell University, do not know how to treat women with high blood pressure and/or kidney disease during pregnancy. Keeping the BP in the normal range may be beneficial to the mother. On the other hand, we are not sure if the blood pressure lowering or the medications may or may not have adverse effects for the baby. Different trials to answer this question have been performed with no clear conclusions. Because of these uncertainties, we propose to compare two different strategies for treating women with high BP who become pregnant. We will treat half the women with BP medications to normalize BP (120-130/80 mm Hg) (experimental group) and the other half with the goal of keeping the BP slightly higher (140-150/90-100 mm Hg)(standard therapy group). We will determine which approach results in healthier pregnancies, and lower incidence of preeclampsia. Reducing the incidence of preeclampsia would be of significant benefit to both mothers and babies.
Combined Antioxidant and Preeclampsia Prediction Studies (CAPPS)
PreeclampsiaPreeclampsia is one of the most common complications of pregnancy and is characterized by high blood pressure and protein in the urine. This can cause problems in the second half of pregnancy for both the mother and fetus. This study of preeclampsia consists of two parts: 1) a randomized, placebo controlled, multicenter clinical trial of 10,000 low-risk nulliparous women between 9 and 16 weeks gestation and 2) an observational, cohort study of 4,000 patients between 9 and 12 weeks gestation who are also enrolled in the trial. Subjects in both parts will receive either 1000 mg of vitamin C and 400 IU of vitamin E or matching placebo daily. The purpose of the randomized, clinical trial is to find out if high doses of vitamin C and E will reduce the risk of preeclampsia and other problems associated with the disease. The study will also evaluate the safety of antioxidant therapy for mother and infant. Patients will be seen monthly to receive their supply of study drug, to have weight and blood pressure recorded, to have urine protein measured, and to assess any side effects. At two visits, blood and urine will be collected. The observational, cohort study will prospectively measure potential biochemical and biophysical markers that might predict preeclampsia. These patients will have additional procedures including uterine artery Doppler and blood drawn for a complete blood count (CBC).
App-based Remote Blood Pressure Monitoring
Gestational HypertensionPreeclampsia1 moreRemote postpartum blood pressure monitoring program with text messages has been shown to increase adherence to recommended postpartum blood pressure checks among those with hypertension at discharge from birth hospitalization, but these programs require medically trained professionals to respond to each individual text message. A bluetooth-enabled blood pressure cuff that synchs automatically a smartphone application that leverages Artificial Intelligence to provide tailored recommendations based on recorded blood pressure measurements--and can also provide on-demand education on hypertension--may be less costly way to provide similar support.
Prevention of Pre-eclampsia and SGA by Low-Dose Aspirin in Nulliparous Women With Abnormal First-trimester...
Pre-eclampsiaIntra-uterine Growth RestrictionThe objective of this study is to test the efficacy of low-dose aspirin (160 mg/day), given bedtime and started early during pregnancy (≤ 15 +6 weeks of gestation) in nulliparous pregnant women selected as "high-risk" by the presence of a bilateral uterine artery notch and/or bilateral uterine artery PI ≥ 1.7 during the first trimester ultrasound scan (11-13+6 weeks), to prevent the occurrence of pre-eclampsia or small for gestational age at birth.
Combined Multi-marker Screening and Treatment With Aspirin for Pre-eclampsia Prevention
PreeclampsiaPhase III two arm double-blinded randomised controlled trial to examine the effect of prophylactic low-dose aspirin from the first-trimester of pregnancy in women at increased risk for PET on the incidence and severity of the disease
Low Dose Calcium to Prevent Preeclampsia
Pre-EclampsiaHypertension2 moreThe purpose of this study is to assess, in pregnant women with calcium-poor diets, what is the effectiveness of low-dose (500 mg/day) calcium supplements associated with an educational intervention, compared to the educational intervention alone, in the prevention of preeclampsia and hypertensive disorders during pregnancy.
A Skills and Drills Intervention for Emergency Obstetrics and Neonatal Care at First Referral Units...
Obstetric and Perinatal ComplicationsPostpartum Hemorrhage4 moreTo evaluate the effectiveness of a First Referral Unit (FRU) Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (EmONC) skills and drills intervention, to estimate the appropriateness and effectiveness of referrals in intervention arm compared to control arm and to calculate the incremental cost and cost effectiveness of EmONC skills and drills intervention.
Placental Growth Factor Assessment of Women With Suspected Pre-eclampsia
Pre-eclampsiaPregnancy2 moreThe primary aim is to establish the effectiveness of plasma PlGF measurement in reducing maternal morbidity (with assessment of perinatal safety in parallel) in women presenting with suspected pre-eclampsia prior to 37 weeks' gestation. The long term aim is to demonstrate that knowledge of PlGF measurement enables appropriate stratification of the antenatal management of women presenting with suspected pre-eclampsia, such that those at highest risk receive greater surveillance with a decrease in maternal adverse outcomes, and those at lower risk can be managed without unnecessary admission and other interventions, such that the results would influence international clinical practice in antenatal patient healthcare