Brain Volumes After Hypertensive Pregnancy and Postpartum Blood Pressure Management

Can physician-optimized self-management of blood pressure during the early postpartum period after hypertensive pregnancy alter brain volumes?This randomized clinical trial found that physician-optimized blood pressure self-management was associated with higher white matter volumes compared with usual care. For participants receiving usual care, preeclampsia was associated with lower putamen, accumbens, and pallidum volumes compared with gestational hypertension, which was ameliorated by physician-optimized blood pressure self-management.The early postpartum period may present an opportunity to improve long-term cognitive outcomes in women who have had a hypertensive pregnancy, and the negative impact of preeclampsia on the brain may be mitigated by improved postpartum blood pressure control.

Corresponding Author: Paul Leeson, PhD, Oxford Cardiovascular Clinical Research Facility, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford OX3 9DU, United Kingdom (paul.leeson@cardiov.ox.ac.uk).

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