Hydralazine was the most common drug for others to be evaluated against .
Diazoxide , given as 75 mg bolus injections , appears to be associated with maternal hypotension requiring treatment , and ketanserin is less effective than hydralazine at reducing blood pressure .
There is no other clear evidence that any one of the other antihypertensive agents is better than another for women with severe hypertension during pregnancy .
Exceptions are diazoxide and ketanserin , which are probably not good choices
BACKGROUND Very high blood pressure during pregnancy poses a serious threat to women and their babies .
The use of drugs to lower blood pressure will reduce this risk for the women , and possibly also for the baby .
OBJECTIVES The objective of this review was to compare different antihypertensive drugs used for treatment of severe hypertension during pregnancy .
Improving placental blood flow in pre‐eclampsia with prostaglandin A1
Prostagl and in A1 is a potent hypotensive , peripheral vasodilator , a weak oxytocic , antiplatelet aggregator . It improves the renal hemodynamics . Its effect on placental circulation was evaluated ( expressed as systolic/diastolic ratio and umbilical artery resistance index ) in 20 women with severe pre‐eclampsia and 10 normotensive pregnant women , by using the Doppler technique . Moreover , another 10 women with severe pre‐eclampsia received dextrose 5 % as a placebo for comparative purpose s. Significant improvements in both parameters studied were observed in the women with severe pre‐eclampsia . The beneficial changes differed significantly from the recorded values when using dextrose in pre‐eclampsia or prostagl and in A , in normotensive subjects . Such promising data add another important perspective to prostagl and in A , in severe pre‐eclampsia and may open up new avenues for its use in other situations with compromised placental flow
Hydralazine was the most common drug for others to be evaluated against .
Diazoxide , given as 75 mg bolus injections , appears to be associated with maternal hypotension requiring treatment , and ketanserin is less effective than hydralazine at reducing blood pressure .
There is no other clear evidence that any one of the other antihypertensive agents is better than another for women with severe hypertension during pregnancy .
Exceptions are diazoxide and ketanserin , which are probably not good choices
BACKGROUND Very high blood pressure during pregnancy poses a serious threat to women and their babies .
The use of drugs to lower blood pressure will reduce this risk for the women , and possibly also for the baby .
OBJECTIVES The objective of this review was to compare different antihypertensive drugs used for treatment of severe hypertension during pregnancy .