Clinical Research
Clinical Research Papers
A New Technique to Evaluate
Arterial Compliance Changes During Pregnancy
TJ Brinton, SS Chio, ED Walls, D
Cunningham, and EB Grossman. Pulse Metric, Inc., San Diego, CA
USA and University of Rochester, Rochester, NY USA.
Objective: The development of a new technique to
evaluate arterial compliance (ArtC) changes during the course of
pregnancy.
Methodology: We previously developed and validated a
non-invasive method to evaluate blood pressure (BP) and brachial
artery compliance (ArtC) using a cuff sphygmomanometer. (Brinton
et al, Amer J Cardiol, 1997). To evaluate potential changes in BP
and ArtC during pregnancy, 15 pregnant women underwent study at
14, 24, 28, 32, and 36 weeks using the new method in an
ambulatory device. Each 24 hour ambulatory monitoring session
consisted of 30-40 determinations of BP and ArtC. Average BP and
ArtC were determined for each 24 hour monitoring session.
Results: ArtC decreased significantly at 28 weeks and
remained low thereafter. SBP was significantly increased at 36
weeks, though a trend toward an increase at 28 weeks appeared to
correlate with the decrease in ArtC. DBP did not change.
Week
|
14
|
24
|
28
|
32
|
36
|
SBP
|
122± 3
|
122± 3
|
126± 3
|
125± 3
|
130± 3*
|
DBP
|
66± 2
|
65<± 2
|
66± 3
|
65± 1
|
70± 2
|
ArtC
|
0.112± 0.005
|
0.110± 0.005
|
0.099± 0.005*
|
0.102± 0.005*
|
0.099± 0.005*
|
Values are Mean± SEM, *
p < 0.05 vs. 14 wk
Conclusions: ArtC decreases in the middle of pregnancy,
and the changes proceed or possibly coincide with, the increase
in SBP. The results demonstrate the feasibility of using this
non-invasive ambulatory technique for monitoring ArtC during
pregnancy and therefore should be useful in studying potential
ArtC alterations during preeclampsia.
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