7th Brazilian Guideline of Arterial Hypertension: Chapter 9 - Arterial Hypertension in pregnancy

Epidemiology The hypertensive syndromes of pregnancy cause expressive maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality. There is no accurate information on the incidence of preeclampsia (PE), but it is estimated to affect 4% of gestations. In Brazil, the incidence of PE is 1.5 %, while the incidence of eclampsia is 0.6%. 1 More developed areas have an incidence of eclampsia of 0.2%, with a maternal death rate of 0.8%, while for less favored regions those indices are 8.1% and 22%, respectively. 2 A population-based study shows AH in 7.5% of the gestations in Brazil, with 2.3% of PE and 0.5% of superimposed PE. 3 Arterial hypertension during pregnancy accounts for 20% to 25% of all causes of maternal death, and data from SUS show a trend towards stagnation.