Abstract
Our understanding and management of gestational hypertension and its variants are substantially hindered by a reliance on antiquated terminology and on practice recommendations based largely on tradition rather than outcomes-based evidence. Unsurprisingly, gestational hypertension remains a major contributor to maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality rates, with little improvement seen over the past half century except as it relates to better newborn care. Reliance on a binary classification of vastly disparate types and degrees of organ dysfunction (severe or not severe) and the use of nonphysiological and largely arbitrary gestational age cutoffs are particularly problematic. If this situation is to improve, it will be necessary to abandon current misleading terminology and non–evidence-based traditional practice patterns and start again, building on management approaches validated by outcomes-based data.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 547-552 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | American journal of obstetrics and gynecology |
Volume | 228 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - May 2023 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- evidence-based medicine
- gestational hypertension
- pre-eclampsia
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Obstetrics and Gynecology