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 .
Long-term treatment with nicardipine for severe pre-eclampsia.
OBJECTIVE To evaluate the safety of long-term nicardipine treatment in severely pre-eclamptic women and their fetuses/newborns . METHODS We divided 50 pregnant women into three groups according to the length of their treatment : short-term treatment of severely pre-eclamptic women ( 7 days or less , n=20 ) ; medium-term treatment also of severely pre-eclamptic women ( 8 - 28 days , n=20 ) ; and long-term treatment of women with severe superimposed pre-eclampsia ( 29 days or more , n=10 ) . RESULTS Nicardipine significantly lowered both systolic ( P<0.01 ) and diastolic blood pressures ( P<0.025 ) in all three groups . The incidence of delivery before 28 weeks of gestation was very low in all three groups . There were no maternal or fetal/neonatal adverse effects . CONCLUSION Our results suggest that long-term treatment with nicardipine for severe pre-eclampsia is as effective and safe as a short- and medium-term treatment
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 .