SASH Study - Sonographic Assessment for Severe Hypertension in Pregnancy

Overview

• Adjunctive use of easily-obtainable maternal sonographic vascular measurements assessing volume status, cardiac output, and systemic vascular resistance by means of inferior vena cava collapsibility/caval index (ICV CI), end-point septal separation (EPSS) for determining left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), cardiac output determination (stroke volume x heart rate), stroke volume variation, \& radial artery resistance index) augments standard vital sign assessment (pulse pressure and systolic / diastolic predominance) in clinical decision-making potentially leading to more appropriate pharmacologic and clinical therapies with faster resolution of severe hypertension among pregnant women and women in the postpartum period.

* Minutes count when it comes to treating and preventing serious complications associated with hypertensive emergencies in pregnancy. The rates of maternal morbidity and mortality are on the rise within the United States whereas the rates are falling in the rest of the developed world. Cardiovascular and neurologic injury associated with the severe hypertension witnessed among women with preeclampsia/eclampsia represent two of the leading causes of maternal mortality within the U.S. Optimizing the clinical identification and response to these perinatal complications represents one means of reducing overall maternal mortality. * Point-of-care use of ultrasound technology to augment clinical diagnosis and management is gaining traction throughout nearly all fields of medicine. Obstetricians utilize this technology frequently to assess the fetus and maternal-fetal interface, and our ability to expand its use to assess a deeper understanding of maternal physiology is underutilized. Exploration into the ability to apply clinically-proven point-of-care sonographic techniques to augment maternal care and reduce maternal mortality is warranted. * The purpose of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of maternal physiologic changes using easily-obtainable sonographic vascular measurements in the setting of hypertensive emergencies and to assess the utility of these adjunctive maternal sonographic measurements in augmenting clinical decision-making.

Conditions