Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (i.e. gestational hypertension and pre-eclampsia) and gestational diabetes are among the most common problems in pregnancy. These complications have profound devastating effects on both mother and baby, also leading to long-term health consequences. Right now, there is no very good way to tell in advance who will develop one of these complications. The goal of the REVEAL study is to find out if measuring the hardness of the arteries during pregnancy can predict early the development of complications. We are recruiting pregnant women with at least one risk factor for a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy or gestational diabetes. We test the hardness of the arteries starting within the first 3 months of pregnancy and every 4 weeks thereafter until delivery, again within 24 hours after delivery, and at 6 weeks after delivery. This will be done using a safe, easy, non-invasive, and comfortable test. Of the 54 women who have delivered in our ongoing study, 3 developed gestational hypertension, 3 pre-eclampsia, and 3 gestational diabetes. Our analyses show that, in the first trimester, arteries in the center of the body are harder in women who go on to develop one of these complications. Furthermore, this hardness remains high throughout pregnancy and even at 6 weeks after delivery. In conclusion, the hardness of the arteries may be a promising tool for identifying, early in pregnancy, women who are at risk of developing these devastating complications in pregnancy before the symptoms appear. This tool could allow for the opportunity to implement ways to prevent the complications from happening not only reducing the burden of high-risk women on the health care system but also reducing the emotional burden on individual women. Furthermore, since the arteries remain hard after pregnancy, this may be associated with an increased risk for heart problems in the future and may be a useful screening tool.