Laleh Eslamian - Obstetrics & Gynecology, Shariati hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS)
Vajiheh Marsoosi
Aram Bayranvandi

Design: A clinical randomised trial Setting: Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Shariati Hospital in 2016-2017 Population: Pregnant women with severe gestational hypertension ≥ 160/110 mmHg who required immediate treatment. Methods: In this study 60 mothers with BP ≥ 160/110 mmHg randomly allocated generated numbers into two groups (Group A and Group B), 30 in each group. In-group A Labetalol injection 20mg was given intravenously and was repeated at 20 mins interval in an escalating dose regimen of 40, 80, 80 and 80 mg up to maximum of 300 mg to achieve the target blood pressure. In Group B Nifedipine 10 mg was given orally 20 mins interval up to a maximum of 5 doses (50 mg). The target BP to be achieved was ≤ 150/100 mmHg and at this point study regimen was stopped. Main outcome: measure the time taken to achieve a blood pressure of ≤ 150/100 mmHg Results: The median time taken to achieve target blood pressure was 59 minutes in group A versus 50 minutes in group B, respectively (P = 0.306). No crossover treatment was required in either group. Conclusions: Oral nifedipine and intravenous labetalol regimens are similarly effective in the acute control of severe hypertension in pregnancy

Hypertension, labetalol, nifedipine, pre-eclampsia, pregnancy