Early Vascular Adjustments to Prevent Preeclampsia

Women destined to develop gestational hypertensive complications often exhibit deviant hemodynamic adaptation patterns before overt clinical disease. Gestational hypertension and late onset preeclampsia are associated with an exaggerated rise in cardiac output on top of a higher prepregnant value, whereas a shallow rise in cardiac output and the lack of a peripheral resistance drop predisposes to the much less common early onset-preeclampsia along with impaired fetal growth. Early treatment of altered cardiac output and peripheral resistance adjustments might prevent development of gestational hypertensive complications. The investigators aim to evaluate early cardiovascular adjustments during pregnancy in a high-risk population, and to pharmaceutically adjust deviant cardiovascular adaptations with beta-blockade, centrally acting sympatholytic agents or vasodilating agents when appropriate to prevent adverse effects on neonatal birth weight.