Essay On Preeclampsia

Hypertension is the most common medical disorder in pregnancy ranging from 12% to 22%, and is directly responsible for 17.6% of maternal deaths in the United States (Davidson, 2012, p. 461). Hypertension in pregnancy is classified into four groups: preeclampsia-eclampsia, chronic hypertension, chronic hypertension with superimposed eclampsia, and gestational hypertension. The most common type of hypertensive disorder in pregnancy is preeclampsia. Preeclampsia is a syndrome that affects both mother and fetus. It is defined as an increase in blood pressure after 20 weeks gestation and accompanied by proteinuria in a woman previously normotensive. It afflicts 3% to 5% of pregnancies and is a leading cause of maternal mortality; especially in developing countries …show more content…
Preeclampsia has been termed a “disease of theories” (Davidson, 2012 p.461) because the exact cause of preeclampsia remains unknown, although there is growing evidence that the placenta plays a central role in the development of the disorder. It has been suggested that preeclampsia occurs from defects in implantation and formation of the placenta. Placental implantation with abnormal trophoblastic invasion of uterine vessels is said to be a major cause of hypertension associated with preeclampsia. Incomplete trophoblastic invasion of the uterine spiral arteries results in failure to transform from thick-walled muscular vessels to saclike flaccid vessels. Placental hypo-perfusion, caused by the incomplete invasion leads to the release of systemic vasoactive compounds that results in an exaggerated inflammatory response, vasoconstriction, capillary leak, hypercoagulability, platelet dysfunction and endothelial damage (Lim, 2016), all which directly correlates to the severity of maternal hypertension. Another possible cause of preeclampsia is due to an imbalance between prostacyclin and