Pulse wave arrival times measured from the peak of the R-wave of the electrocardiogram to the onset of a peripheral pulse wave were recorded with a miniature pressure transducer in a group of 72 hypertensive pregnant women, of whom 19 were receiving sympatholytic antihypertensive medication and 53 were not. The mean (± SD) pulse wave arrival time of the hypertensive pregnant group was 204 ± 15 milliseconds, which was significantly shorter than that measured in a group of 49 uncomplicated normotensive pregnant subjects (222 ± 16 milliseconds) (P.001). The mean pulse wave arrival times were shortest in the subset of pregnant hypertensive patients not on sympatholytic medication (201 ± 13 milliseconds) as compared with patients on such medication (212 ± 18 milliseconds) (P.01). These observations suggest that patients with pregnancy hypertension have much shorter pulse wave arrival times than normotensive pregnant women. Further studies are needed to determine the potential usefulness of this cardiovascular index for evaluation of hypertensive states during pregnancy.
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