[Relations between family history of essential hypertension and fetal prognosis in hypertension in pregnancy].

In a population of 134 hypertensive pregnant women, 66 per cent of whom had chronic (permanent) arterial hypertension, the frequency of essential hypertension in the pregnant women's fathers or mothers was 60 per cent. The rate of unfavourable foetal outcome, i.e. late abortion, still-birth, neonatal death, birth weight below 1,500 g, severe prematurity or severely stunted growth, was 21 per cent. This rate was the same in the presence or absence of a family history of essential hypertension. It was higher in women with hypertension in pregnancy than in women with chronic hypertension (30 vs 16 per cent; p less than 0.05), but a family history of hypertension (mostly in the mother) was more frequent among pregnant women with chronic hypertension (69 vs 43 per cent; p less than 0.01). A multivariate analysis of the entire population studied showed that a family history of hypertension was not an independent variable predictive of foetal outcome; however, hypertension in the father was such a variable. The influence of family history of hypertension on the foetal outcome was studied separately in women with chronic hypertension and in those with hypertension in pregnancy. The results showed statistically significant differences the other way round: a better foetal outcome was observed in cases of hypertension in pregnancy with a family history of hypertension (more rarely associated with pre-eclampsia), and a poorer foetal outcome was observed in cases of chronic hypertension with a similar family history (mostly in the father, and associated with a more severe hypertension). This study suggests that a family history of essential hypertension and the type of hypertension observed in the patient must be taken into account when evaluating the severity of hypertension in pregnant women.