Assessment of sympathetic vascular reactivity in pregnant women using cold pressor test and heart rate variability

Pregnancy is a physiological condition associated with profound adaptive changes in the maternal hemodynamics and cardiovascular system. Autonomic nervous system plays a central role in this adaptation to the various needs of pregnancy. One of the well-known complication, that occurs commonly during pregnancy is pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH)/preeclampsia (PE). It is characterized by a marked increase in peripheral vascular resistance leading to an increase in blood pressure, but the triggering mechanisms are unclear.

This study will help us to identify the pregnant women prone to develop preeclampsia later during her course of pregnancy so study could be useful for early detection this and treatment of preeclampsia.

The study was conducted in the Department of Physiology, Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi in association with Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, HAHC Hospital, New Delhi. 50 pregnant females were recruited between 12–16 weeks reporting to the Outpatient Department (OPD) of Obstetrics and Gynecology were enrolled in this study and they were followed up at 21 weeks of gestation. They were subjected to the Cold Pressor Test for the assessment of sympathetic vascular reactivity in sitting position and Heart rate variability.

This study has compared the readings between 12,14 and 21 weeks of gestation and found that there were no hyper reaction to cold pressor test at 12 weeks nor they showed signs of preeclampsia or PIH.At 14 weeks of gestation out of 50 pregnant subjects 4% (2) showed hyperreaction to cold pressor test