Abstract
Introduction
Preeclampsia (PE) is a multisystem disease affecting 2–8% of all pregnancies. Recently we found that the prevalence of antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) in PE patients at 13.9%. APS can be the cause of thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension. However, data on heart function and pulmonary pressure in PE and in PE with APS are sparse.
Purpose
We sought to investigate cardiac hemodynamics in this population.
Method
Between July 2016 and December 2018, we performed echocardiography in patients who had suffered from PE alone (n=102, age=32.6±4.8 y) or PE with APS (n=21, age=32.1±4.2 y) 3 months after delivery. APS was diagnosed according to the Sapporo criteria.
Results
The overall prevalence of APS was 17%. Right ventricular to right atrial pressure (RV/RA) gradient was significantly higher in PE + APS patients than in patients who had PE only (21.1±3.8 vs. 17.9±4.6mmHg, p=0.04, PE+APS vs. PE). The indexed volume of the left atrium (LA: 20.3±4.4 vs 23.5±5.5ml/m2, p=0.01, PE+APS vs. PE) and the birthweight of the newborn (1379.8±759.1 vs 1848.1±879.6.1g, p=0.02, PE+APS vs. PE) were lower in APS patients.
Conclusion
In patients with preeclampsia and APS, three month after delivery, pulmonary artery pressure was higher and the left atrium size smaller than in patients who had PE only. Conceivably this may reflects multiple subclinical clots in the pulmonary vessels in APS patients and may put these patients at an elevated risk of pulmonary hypertension later in life.
Left Atrium Size, Quantitative
