Hello and welcome to the Zero to Finals podcast. My name is Tom and in this episode I'm going to be talking to you about pre-eclampsia.

And you can find written notes on this topic at zero-to-finals.com slash pre-eclampsia or in the antinatal care section of the zero to finals

obstetrics and gynecology book so let's get straight into it preeclampsia refers to new high blood

pressure or hypertension in pregnancy with end organ damage protein urea or protein in the urine.

Preeclampsia occurs after 20 weeks gestation when the spiral arteries of the placenta form abnormally,

which leads to high vascular resistance in these vessels.

We'll talk about this pathophysiology in more detail shortly.

Preeclampsia is a significant cause of maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality,

with injury and death to both the mother and the fetus.

Without treatment, it can lead to maternal organ damage,

fetal growth restriction, seizures in the mother,

early labour and in a small proportion of people, death.

Preeclampsia features a triad of hypertension or raised blood pressure, protein urea or protein in the urine,

and edema, which is fluid building up in the tissues.

Let's go through some basic definitions.

Chronic hypertension is high blood pressure that exists before 20 weeks gestation and is long

standing. This is not caused by dysfunction in the placenta and is not classed as preeclampsia.

Pregnancy induced hypertension or gestational hypertension refers to hypertension occurring after 20

weeks gestation without protein urea, without protein in the urine.

Preeclampsia is pregnancy-induced hypertension associated with end-organ damage,

notably protein urea, or protein in the urine,

suggesting that the kidneys are damaged and leaking protein.

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