Hypertension in pregnancy.

Hypertension in pregnancy is associated with increased risk of perinatal morbidity and mortality. At high blood pressure levels, there is a risk of maternal cerebrovascular lesions and death. Probably less than 5% of all pregnancies in western Europe are complicated by elevated blood pressure. Profound haemodynamic and hormonal changes occur during a normal pregnancy. In some respects, pregnancy-induced hypertension can be regarded as a deficient adaptation to the state of pregnancy. The pathogenesis of pregnancy-induced hypertension is not clear, and there is good reason to assume that this is not a homogeneous entity with a simple pathogenetic background. The treatment of hypertension in pregnancy has been a matter of debate, but the treatment of choice in late pregnancy is delivery. In the long-term perspective, women who have had a hypertensive pregnancy run a substantial risk of developing future essential hypertension, and their children have slightly raised blood pressure at an early age.