Low plasma volume, high cholesterol predict recurrent HT. (Hellp Syndrome, Iugr, Preeclampsia).

WASHINGTON - Low plasma volume and hypercholesterolemia post partum were good predictors of recurrent hypertensive disease in a subsequent pregnancy in a study of 99 women.

Affected women whose subsequent pregnancies were also complicated by hypertensive disease had higher cholesterol levels and lower postpartum plasma volumes than those who had uncomplicated subsequent pregnancies. Together, low plasma volume and high cholesterol were associated with a 3.4-fold increase in risk for recurrent hypertensive disease, Dr. Robert Aardenburg reported at the annual meeting of the Society for Gynecologic Investigation.

Dr. Aardenburg of Maastricht (the Netherlands) University and his associates examined 99 women with a history of hypertensive disease in pregnancy who also completed a subsequent pregnancy Recurrent hypertensive disease was found in 32 of the women.

Those women who had recurrent hypertensive disease (HELLP syndrome, intrauterine growth restriction, or preeclampsia) had reduced plasma volume and hypercholesterolemia. Mean plasma volume in these women was 230 milliliters per kilogram meter ...