REVIEW ER 'S CONCLUSIONS It remains unclear whether antihypertensive drug therapy for mild-moderate hypertension during pregnancy is worthwhile
BACKGROUND Mild-moderate hypertension during pregnancy is common .
Antihypertensive drugs are often used in the belief that lowering blood pressure will prevent progression to more severe disease , and thereby improve outcome .
OBJECTIVES To assess the effects of antihypertensive drug treatments for women with mild to moderate hypertension during pregnancy .
The effect of nifedipine on urinary excretion of calcium in preeclampsia.
Our objective was to determine if maternal urinary calcium excretion is altered during treatment of mild preeclampsia remote from term with the calcium channel blocker nifedipine .  One hundred forty-eight women with mild preeclampsia were r and omly allocated to treatment with either bed rest alone ( n=64 ) or in combination with nifedipine ( n=84 ) at 26 - 36 weeks ' gestation . All women had 24 hr urine sample s collected for creatinine clearance and calcium excretion determination prior to therapy and during treatment . There was no difference in gestational age at the time of urine collection between the two groups . There were no differences in 24-hr creatinine clearance and calcium excretion between the groups prior to therapy . When followed longitudinally , there was a significant reduction in calcium excretion within each group ( p=0.0005 control group , p < 0.0001 nifedipine group ) . Further , a significant reduction in calcium excretion was noted following nifedipine therapy ( 62+/-94 mg Ca/24 hr ) compared to the control group ( 143+/-153 mg Ca/24 hr ) , p < 0.001 . Consistent with previous studies , we have shown that progressive hypocalciuria is a feature of preeclampsia . Further , urinary calcium excretion decreased despite nifedipine therapy . Altered urinary calcium excretion may be less reflective of the progression in severity of preeclampsia in patients treated with nifedipine
REVIEW ER 'S CONCLUSIONS It remains unclear whether antihypertensive drug therapy for mild-moderate hypertension during pregnancy is worthwhile
BACKGROUND Mild-moderate hypertension during pregnancy is common .
Antihypertensive drugs are often used in the belief that lowering blood pressure will prevent progression to more severe disease , and thereby improve outcome .
OBJECTIVES To assess the effects of antihypertensive drug treatments for women with mild to moderate hypertension during pregnancy .