Preeclampsia Clinical Trials

The researchers are testing a medication named ravulizumab for the treatment of severe preeclampsia and Hemolysis, Elevated Liver enzymes, Low Platelets (HELLP) syndrome. Read Less

A randomized controlled trial of 1,500 women to assess whether treatment of obstructive sleep apnea with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) in pregnancy will result in a reduction in the rate of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. Read Less

Pregnancy elicits adaptive changes in uteroplacental blood flow, which are altered at high altitude and may contribute to the observed 3-fold increase in intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) and preeclampsia (PreE). The investigators propose to collect myometrial, cord blood, and placental tissue samples from women at high altitude (Summit County) and low altitude (Denver) in Colorado in order to determine if residence at altitude during pregnancy changes the vasoreactivity of myometrial arteries (MA). If altered MA vasoreactivity is found, further studies may be able to link these changes to the increased rates of PreE and IUGR at altitude and contribute to the understanding of these two disorders. Read Less

Preeclampsia is a pregnancy disorder affecting ~5-10% of pregnancies in the United States. Women who develop preeclampsia during pregnancy are more likely to develop and die of cardiovascular disease later in life, even if they are otherwise healthy. The reason why this occurs is unclear but may be related to blood vessel damage and increased inflammation that occurs during the preeclamptic pregnancy and persists postpartum. Low dose aspirin (LDA; 75-150mg/daily) is currently the most effective and clinically accepted therapy for reducing preeclampsia prevalence in women at high risk for developing the syndrome. The purpose of this study is to interrogate the mechanisms by which LDA therapy mitigates persistent vascular dysfunction in postpartum women who have had preeclampsia. In this study, the investigators use the blood vessels in the skin as a representative vascular bed for examining mechanisms of microvascular dysfunction in humans. Using a minimally invasive technique (intradermal microdialysis for the local delivery of pharmaceutical agents) they examine the blood vessels in a dime-sized area of the skin in women who have had a history of preeclampsia. As a compliment to these measurements, they also draw blood from the subjects and isolate the inflammatory cells. Read Less

Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (including preeclampsia) are among the leading causes of pregnancy complications and maternal deaths worldwide. They also increase the risks to the babies. Numerous interventions have been suggested in order to reduce the rate of preeclampsia. Low-dose aspirin is the most beneficial prophylactic approach in this regard. Nevertheless, aspirin failure is not uncommon. The genetic, laboratory, and clinical factors associated with low-dose aspirin failure in the prevention of preeclampsia are largely unknown. The presence of a genetic variant in PAR4 receptor expressed on platelets, is associated with increased platelet function and possibly with aspirin failure. Read Less

Otherwise healthy women who develop preeclampsia during pregnancy are more likely to develop and die of cardiovascular disease later in life. The reason why this occurs is unclear but may be related to impaired endothelial function and dysregulation of the angiotensin system that occurs during preeclampsia and persists postpartum, despite the remission of clinical symptoms. The purpose of this investigation is to determine the mechanisms contributing to this lasting blood vessel damage caused by reduced endothelial function in women who have had preeclampsia compared to women who had a healthy pregnancy. Identification of these mechanisms and treatment strategies may lead to better clinical management of cardiovascular disease risk in these women. The purpose of this study is to examine differences in the microvascular balance of angiotensin II receptors women who have had preeclampsia. This will help the investigators better understand the mechanisms of dysregulated angiotensin II receptors in formerly preeclamptic women, and how activation or inhibition of these receptors may restore microvascular function. In this study, the investigators use the blood vessels in the skin as a representative vascular bed for examining mechanisms of microvascular dysfunction in humans. Using a minimally invasive technique (intradermal microdialysis for the local delivery of pharmaceutical agents) the investigators examine the blood vessels in a dime-sized area of the skin. Read Less

The purpose of The Preeclampsia Registry is to collect and store medical and other information from women who have been medically diagnosed with preeclampsia or a related hypertensive (high blood pressure) disorder of pregnancy such as eclampsia or HELLP syndrome, their family members, and women who have not had preeclampsia to serve as controls. Information from participants will be used for medical research to try to understand why preeclampsia occurs, how to predict it better, and to develop experimental clinical trials of new treatments. The Registry will consist of a web-based survey and mechanism for collecting and reviewing medical records. This data will be utilized for immediate investigator-driven cross-sectional research projects (after proposal review by the Registry's scientific advisory board and as directed by the PI). Participants may also choose to be contacted regarding possible participation in future studies, about providing a biospecimen, as well as investigator-driven clinical trials. The Registry is anticipated to exist long-term and to serve as a foundation of participants from which to draw for studies of preeclampsia, anticipated to evolve as our scientific understanding of preeclampsia evolves. Read Less

The goal of this observational trial is to determine the resting cardiac output (CO) using transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) in a cohort of people with untreated preeclampsia, and a cohort of healthy normotensive pregnant people. Read Less

Although extensively studied, the cause of preeclampsia remains uncertain other than it is thought that the placenta plays a critical role in the development of preeclampsia. Recent data revealed that exosomes released from the placenta could cause preeclampsia by transporting specific cargo responsible for the pathophysiological changes associated with the systemic disease. By isolating these exosomes from maternal blood and placental tissue in patients diagnosed with preeclampsia and studying their biochemical, cellular and molecular mechanism in an animal model, the investigators hope to elucidate the critical role that exosomal cargo plays in the development of preeclampsia and cardiovascular remodeling. This will be accomplished by obtaining patient samples from volunteers delivering at the Women and Infants Center and taking the samples to the lab for quantification, characterization, and identification of key functional roles through in/ex vivo, in vitro, and profiling studies. The investigators believe this work will be valuable as hope exists to define the functional role exosomes play in the development of preeclampsia that leads to cardiovascular remodeling. Data from this study will shed more light on the functional role of exosomal cargo in normal and pathological pregnancies and point towards novel therapeutic intervention strategies for preeclampsia associated with cardiovascular disease. Read Less

The purpose of this study is to test a new approach to blood pressure management in postpartum preeclampsia. There will be two groups of patients in this early stage single center trial. Both groups of study participants (observational and interventional) will be treated with standard blood pressure medications while undergoing continuous non-invasive blood pressure and near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) monitoring for 24 hours. The interventional group will have personalized blood pressure targets according to results of NIRS monitoring which will be updated in real time. Read Less

The goal of this study is to assess the effect of an electronic health record (EHR) clinical decision support tool, also known as a best practice alert (BPA), on healthcare provider recommendations for low dose aspirin use in a high-risk pregnant patient population. The investigators hypothesize that the implementation of the EHR BPA tool will increase the healthcare provider's recommendation for low dose aspirin compared to current standard care. Read Less

Women who develop preeclampsia during pregnancy are four times more likely to develop cardiovascular disease later in life, even if they are otherwise healthy. The reason why this occurs may be related to lasting blood vessel damage after the pregnancy but there are currently no specific treatment strategies to prevent this disease progression. This study addresses this public health issue by examining whether starting low dose aspirin therapy after pregnancy is an effective treatment for lasting blood vessel damage in order to inform better clinical management of cardiovascular disease risk in women who have had preeclampsia. Read Less