El embarazo en la adolescencia: incovenientes en el parto, prevención y tratamiento / Pregnancy in adolescents: disadventages in labor, prevention and treatment

La adolescente embarazada representa para el médico una doble responsabilidad: la gestación en un organismo inmaduro y el riesgo psicosocial. En nuestro Hospital, la tasa de embarazos es de 160 por ciento. Esta gran incidencia responde a la pobre situación socieconómica, coexistente con el desempleo y la falta de educación. Muchas jóvenes encuentran dificil incorporarse al sistema de atención prenatal clásico. En nuestro Hospital un equipo multidisciplinario atiende a la adolescente para lograr una continuidad en el cuidado y el compromiso con su gestación. En nuestra casuística no hemos observado aumento de la prematurez, con una incidencia para los adultos de 9 por ciento y para los menores de 17 años de 9,7 por ciento. Tampoco hubieron diferencias en la incidencia de bajo peso al nacer, 10,9 por ciento en las mayores y 11 por ciento en las menores. La duración del trabajo de parto fue similar en adolescentes y adultas. Tampoco encontramos mayor incidencia de otros tipos de distancia. Respecto a la forma de terminación, la incidencia de cesáreas fue 21,6 por ciento en las adultas, y 16 por ciento en las adolescentes, duplicando la incidencia de fórceps, en las menores a la de las adultas. Nuestra función como equipo de Salud es brindarle a la joven la oportunidad de iniciar su maternidad en las mejores condiciones, permitiéndole desarrollar su potencial afectivo hacia ese hijo por venir

El embarazo en la adolescencia: incovenientes en el parto, prevención y tratamiento / Pregnancy in adolescents: disadventages in labor, prevention and treatment

La adolescente embarazada representa para el médico una doble responsabilidad: la gestación en un organismo inmaduro y el riesgo psicosocial. En nuestro Hospital, la tasa de embarazos es de 160 por ciento. Esta gran incidencia responde a la pobre situación socieconómica, coexistente con el desempleo y la falta de educación. Muchas jóvenes encuentran dificil incorporarse al sistema de atención prenatal clásico. En nuestro Hospital un equipo multidisciplinario atiende a la adolescente para lograr una continuidad en el cuidado y el compromiso con su gestación. En nuestra casuística no hemos observado aumento de la prematurez, con una incidencia para los adultos de 9 por ciento y para los menores de 17 años de 9,7 por ciento. Tampoco hubieron diferencias en la incidencia de bajo peso al nacer, 10,9 por ciento en las mayores y 11 por ciento en las menores. La duración del trabajo de parto fue similar en adolescentes y adultas. Tampoco encontramos mayor incidencia de otros tipos de distancia. Respecto a la forma de terminación, la incidencia de cesáreas fue 21,6 por ciento en las adultas, y 16 por ciento en las adolescentes, duplicando la incidencia de fórceps, en las menores a la de las adultas. Nuestra función como equipo de Salud es brindarle a la joven la oportunidad de iniciar su maternidad en las mejores condiciones, permitiéndole desarrollar su potencial afectivo hacia ese hijo por venir (AU)

Cadralazine for the treatment of preeclampsia. An open, noncomparative, dose-finding pilot study.

The antihypertensive effect, tolerability, and influence on placental and fetal circulation of cadralazine, a 6-substituted derivative of 3-hydrazinopyridoxine structurally related to hydralazine, was assessed in 46 preeclamptic patients in the third trimester of pregnancy and with diastolic blood pressure of 100-120 mm Hg after 24 hours of bed rest. Patients who fulfilled the inclusion criteria at the initial report (24-48-hour run-in period after hospitalization) entered the titration period. During titration, cadralazine was administered at an initial dose of 5 mg once a day; if after 3 days diastolic blood pressure was still above 90 mm Hg, 5 mg more was added for another 3 days, and so forth, until the maximum dose (20 mg once a day) was reached. Patients who did not lower diastolic blood pressure below 90 mm Hg were considered nonresponders; those who achieved the desired diastolic level (responders) entered the maintenance period, which lasted until delivery. Eight patients delivered during the titration period (premature discontinuation group). A significant decrease in systolic and diastolic blood pressures was observed between the initial report and the titration period. During titration, there were 27 responders (71%) and 11 nonresponders. One of the responders was lost to follow-up. Cadralazine proved to be effective in lowering blood pressure levels; in the group of responders, a mean diastolic reduction of 20% was observed. This significant decrease was not affected by the diastolic blood pressure increase observed at the end of gestation. No adverse effects from the drug were observed on fetal development or immediate postnatal adaptation to stress during labor, and only mild maternal side effects were detected (headache).

Arterial blood pressure standards during normal pregnancy and their relation with mother-fetus variables.

The purpose of our work was to study blood pressure variations during pregnancy in a normal Latin American population from Argentina and Uruguay; to investigate blood pressure variations according to maternal age, parity, or pregnancy weight gain; and to correlate diastolic blood pressure levels in the last trimester of pregnancy with newborn birth weight. This prospective study included follow-up throughout gestation of 249 normal pregnant women (129 nulliparous and 120 multiparous) with a weekly blood pressure control under the same experimental conditions. Our results demonstrate that there is only a low correlation between maternal age and diastolic blood pressure, but no correlation was found with systolic blood pressure; maternal weight gain correlates with blood pressure changes; no correlation was found between gestational age and blood pressure, although an increasing tendency in systolic and diastolic blood pressure was found toward the end of gestation; and a significant correlation was observed between birth weight and average diastolic blood pressure during the third trimester. These findings demonstrate the potential significance of the use of standard blood pressure data from normal pregnant women for the future clinical evaluation of our population.

Ketanserin versus alpha-methyldopa in the treatment of hypertension during pregnancy: a preliminary report.

The antihypertensive efficacy of acute treatment with the serotonin receptor antagonist, ketanserin, in women with preeclampsia has been recently documented. The purpose of this study was to determine the safety and efficacy of chronic ketanserin treatment in a group of 20 hypertensive pregnant women: 10 received daily oral doses of ketanserin (20-80 mg), and 10 were treated with oral alpha-methyldopa (500-2000 mg). This study includes (a) patients with a sustained elevation of systolic blood pressure higher than 159 mm Hg and/or diastolic blood pressure higher than 99 mm Hg at bed rest, and (b) hypertensive patients with systolic blood pressure higher than 140 mm Hg or diastolic blood pressure higher than 90 mm Hg with superimposed symptoms such as headaches, stomach aches, and neurological disturbances. A significant and comparable decrease in blood pressure was noted in both groups, in relation with pretreatment levels; no adverse affects were observed in mother or fetus from the ketanserin and alpha-methyldopa groups.

Two-dimensional and M-mode echocardiographic findings in hypertensive pregnant women.

Two-dimensional and M-mode echocardiograms were obtained during the thirty-second week of gestation from 69 women classified as follows: group I, 22 normotensive primigravid women; group II, 16 primigravid women with pregnancy-induced hypertension; group III, 21 percent women with essential hypertension; and group IV, 10 normotensive nonpregnant control subjects. Systolic, diastolic, and mean arterial pressures were higher in groups II and III than in groups I and IV (p less than 0.001). Echocardiographic dimensions were significantly increased in group III compared with the other groups (p less than 0.01). No significant differences were observed among the other groups in the echocardiographic parameters or in the indices of ventricular performance studied. In echocardiographic studies, chronic hypertensive pregnant women are distinguished from patients with pregnancy-induced hypertension because the former have ventricular hypertrophy resulting from the pressure overload exerted for a long period of time. Our patients with essential hypertension experienced no changes in left ventricular performance because of the early stage of their hypertensive disease.