Preclampsia paper urges team approach.(NEWS)

A new position paper on preeclampsia urges a stepped-up team approach between obstetricians and hypertension experts to managing the disorder, which complicates up to 7% of all pregnancies and is responsible for nearly one-third of all premature births.

The paper, which was developed with invited input from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, also outlines the status of clinical research and describes the link between preeclampisa and risk for cardiovascular disease.

At a press conference announcing the publication of the paper, Dr. Daniel Skupski called the team management approach key to improving outcomes in affected patients. The paper was published in the Journal of the American Society of Hypertension (2008;2:484-94).

Dr. Skupski, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at New Yor-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center and associate chairman of obstetrics and gynecology at New York Hospital, Queens, praised the position paper as a resource that "has been needed for a very long time."

Medical and obstetric specialists have historically had differences of opinion regarding the patheophysiology, diagnosis, effects and treatment of preeclampsia, but this position paper provides a means for specialists to come together and "speak a common language" when it comes to this disease.

In a written statement, Dr. Henry Black, ASH president, noted that the "forward-thinking position paper" provides invaluable insights for hypertensive experts who are managing patients alongside the obstetrician.

The paper does not constitutes a guideline on the management of preeclampsia. It offers extensive information on cardiovascular and ...