BACKGROUND: Mild-moderate @entity101 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 @entity1 with mild to moderate @entity101 during pregnancy. SEARCH STRATEGY: Relevant trials were identified in the register of trials maintained by the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group. In addition, the Cochrane Controlled Trial Register, MEDLINE, and EMBASE were searched. Date of last search: October 2000. SELECTION CRITERIA: All randomised trials evaluating any antihypertensive drug treatment for mild to moderate @entity101 during pregnancy, defined whenever possible as systolic blood pressure 140-169 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure 90-109 mmHg. Comparisons were of one or more antihypertensive drug(s) with placebo, with no antihypertensive drug, or with another antihypertensive drug, and where treatment was planned to continue for at least seven days. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Data were extracted independently by two reviewers. MAIN RESULTS: Overall, this review includes 40 studies (3797 @entity1 ), 24 of which compared an antihypertensive drug with placebo/no antihypertensive drug (2815 @entity1 ). There is a halving in the risk of developing severe @entity101 associated with the use of antihypertensive drug(s) [17 trials, 2155 @entity1 ; relative risk (RR) 0.52 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.41 to 0.64); risk difference (RD) -0.09 (-0.12 to -0.06); number needed to treat (NNT) 12 (9 to 17)] but little evidence of a difference in the risk of @entity1468 [19 trials, 2402 @entity1 ; RR 0.99 (0.84 to 1.18)]. Similarly, there is no clear effect on the risk of the baby dying [23 trials, 2727 @entity1 ; RR 0.71(0.46 to 1.09)], preterm birth [12 trials, 1738 @entity1 ; RR 0.98 (0.85 to 1.13)], or small for gestational age babies [17 trials, 2159 @entity1 ; RR 1.13 (0.91 to 1.42)]. There were no clear differences in any other outcomes. Seventeen trials (1182 @entity1 ) compared one antihypertensive drug with another. There is no clear difference between any of these drugs in the risk of developing severe @entity101 , and @entity644 / @entity1468 . Other antihypertensive agents seem better than methyldopa for reducing the risk of the baby dying [14 trials, 1010 subjects, RR 0.49 (0.24 to 0.99); RD -0.02 (-0.04 to 0.00); NNT 45 (22 to 1341)]. Other outcomes were only reported by a small proportion of studies, and there were no clear differences. REVIEWER'S CONCLUSIONS: It remains unclear whether antihypertensive drug therapy for mild-moderate @entity101 during pregnancy is worthwhile.

Antihypertensive drug therapy for mild to moderate XXXX during pregnancy.

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['women'] @entity644 :: ('MESH:D011507', 'Disease') :: ['proteinuria'] @entity1468 :: ('MESH:D011225', 'Disease') :: ['pre-eclampsia'] @entity101 :: ('MESH:D006973', 'Disease') :: ['hypertension']
@entity101 :: (MESH:D006973,Disease) :: ['hypertension']
