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 .
Ketanserin versus dihydralazine in the management of severe early-onset preeclampsia: maternal outcome.
OBJECTIVE An open , r and omized , prospect i ve , multicenter trial was conducted to compare the efficacy and safety of intravenous ketanserin , a selective serotonin 2 receptor blocker , with that of intravenous dihydralazine in the management of severe early-onset ( < 32 weeks ' gestation ) preeclampsia . End points of this study were blood pressure control and maternal outcome . STUDY DESIGN Patients with a diastolic blood pressure > 110 mm Hg were r and omly assigned to receive either ketanserin ( n = 22 ) or dihydralazine ( n = 22 ) as initial therapy . Plasma volume expansion preceded antihypertensive treatment , which was administered according to a fixed schedule . RESULTS The reductions in blood pressure with the 2 drugs were similar ; however , adequate blood pressure control was reached significantly earlier with ketanserin ( 84 + / _ 63 vs 171 + /- 142 minutes , P = .017 ) . Occurrence of maternal complications was significantly lower among patients who received ketanserin  than among patients who received dihydralazine  ( n = 6 vs n = 18 , P = .0007 ) . A significant difference in favor of ketanserin was noted in daily fluid balance . CONCLUSION Antihypertensive efficacies of ketanserin and dihydralazine were comparable , but significantly fewer maternal complications were noted among the patients receiving ketanserin . Ketanserin is an attractive alternative in the management of severe early-onset preeclampsia
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 .