Skip Navigation

Cardiovascular Research 2000 47(1):38-48; doi:10.1016/S0008-6363(00)00087-0
© 2000 by European Society of Cardiology
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by VanWijk, M. J
Right arrow Articles by VanBavel, E.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by VanWijk, M. J
Right arrow Articles by VanBavel, E.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Copyright © 2000, European Society of Cardiology

Vascular function in preeclampsia

Marja J VanWijka,b,*, Karolina Kublickienec, Kees Boera and Ed VanBavelb

aDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
bDepartment of Medical Physics, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
cDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Karolinska Institute, Huddinge University Hospital, Huddinge, Sweden

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +31-20-566-9111; fax: +31-20-696-3489 m.j.vanwijk{at}amc.uva.nl

Preeclampsia is a multisystem disorder peculiar to human pregnancy. It occurs in 4–5% of all pregnancies and remains a leading cause of maternal and neonatal mortality and morbidity. The pathophysiology of this syndrome is not fully understood. Two stages of vascular dysfunction seem to be involved. In the early stage suboptimal development of the placenta and a hemodynamic maladaptation to pregnancy exist. At this stage maternal constitutional factors such as genetic and immunological factors and pre-existing vascular diseases may play a role. Due to this defective placentation a factor is released from the placenta, supposedly under the influence of ischemia. This factor then results in the late vascular dysfunction characterised mainly by a generalised endothelial dysfunction, leading to the clinical syndrome of preeclampsia. This review attempts to unravel the mechanisms that may contribute to preeclampsia-associated changes in vascular function and to indicate the research needed to improve our understanding of this disease.

KEYWORDS Hypertension; Hemodynamics; Endothelial function; Arteries; Vasoconstriction/dilation


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.