Tracking Retinal & CV Effects in G.H. Post Preg
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Investigating Cardiovascular Function in Women with a History of Gestational Hypertension Using Ultrasound Imaging
IRAS ID
350550
Contact name
Colin Murdoch
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Dundee
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
High blood pressure during pregnancy, affects about 12% of pregnancies. This can lead to serious problems during pregnancy, e.g. restriction of the baby’s growth or life threating complications for the mother. At the most serious extent it can lead to pre-term birth or loss of mum and/or baby. Women that have high blood pressure during pregnancy are likely to develop heart and blood vessel problems later in life. It is important to know who might get heart and blood vessel problems later in life.
Small blood vessels play an important role in blood pressure disorders. Retinal imaging is currently used to identify changes in the tiny blood vessels of people who have had a stroke or diabetes, and can be used for early detection.This study will investigate if imaging of small blood vessels can help measure the health of blood vessels in women after pregnancy to identify those who are at risk of future cardiovascular disease.
This research goal is to explore the use of retinal imaging, ophthalmic ultrasound and blood tests to evaluate small blood vessels' function and structure after pregnancy. This will help better understand potential risk of heart disease later on in life.
We intend to study, women who had hypertension during pregnancy who are more likely to develop raised blood pressure and heart problems later in life. We will identify women who had hypertension during pregnancy and compare to women who did not suffer from hypertension during pregnancy.
We will use new monitoring methods which are quick and easy which could in the future improve the identification of women who are likely to have complications later in life.
REC name
HSC REC A
REC reference
25/NI/0055
Date of REC Opinion
7 May 2025
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion