Diferença tensional entre os membros superiores: um estudo em mulheres grávidas

Abstract

Aim: To ascertain the prevalence of inter-arm blood pressure difference in excess of 10 mmHg in pregnant women. Population: A total of 114 pregnant women selected at random from those admitted to our Maternal and Fetal Medicine Unit. Design: Prospective, descriptive study. Methods: Blood pressure was measured on both arms twice (same operator, method and equipment). Other variants analysed were maternal age, admission diagnosis, gestational age, weight, parity, heart rate, ethnicity, handedness and pulse pressure. Results: Mean age was 26.9 years with a standard deviation (sd) of 6.2; Most women were admitted for labour induction (37%) or because of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (18%). Mean gestational age was 34.1 weeks (sd=6.9) . Right arm blood pressure was on average 121.4 (sd=20.4) over 74.6 (sd=13.8) mmHg. Mean left arm blood pressure was 121.2 (sd=20.1) over 74.7 (sd=13.4). Mean interarm blood pressure differences were 5.2 (sd=4.5) mmHg during systole and 3.3 (sd=3.3) during diastole. Results were not significantly different in hypertensive women. Differences exceeding 10 mmHg were found in 14.0% of women Correlations between inter-arm blood pressure differences exceeding 10 mmHg and age, gestational age, weight, and parity were weak. Conclusions: It is not possible to recommend one arm in which to measure blood pressure. A possible strategy is to evaluate both arms at the first clinical appointment, and to follow-up with the arm showing the highest BP.