Hoppe talks about secondary hypertension and pregnancy with Medscape

Kara Hoppe, DO, PhD, professor in the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine and vice chair of clinical research, joined Medscape on the Secondary Hypertension Podcast to talk about hypertension in pregnancy. In “Secondary Hypertension and Pregnancy: From Preconception to Postpartum Cardio-Obstetric Care,” Hoppe spoke about hypertension across the continuum of pregnancy, from preconception counseling to collaborative care during pregnancy, postpartum management, and long-term cardiovascular health. 

When asked about the use of home blood pressure monitoring, Hoppe said:

“This is really a hot, up-and-coming topic. I think it has been used more long-standing in nonpregnant patients, but it is important because it provides a more accurate assessment of baseline blood pressures, and when done, it can really help identify masked or white coat hypertension and also guide medication adjustments before pregnancy.

Recognizing and appreciating white coat hypertension, I think, is undervalued but prevents overtreatment based on misleading office readings and allows clinicians to better tailor therapy and assess true risk. This is really underappreciated and really not particularly known about in pregnancy. A lot of my patients come, and they’re like, I have white coat hypertension. And then the problems come later when they’re having hypertension, and we just call it preeclampsia. I think the guidelines from the American Heart Association (AHA) — there’s one nice paper that talks about assessing for white coat before 20 weeks of the pregnancy — and home blood pressure monitoring can help with that. Bringing more awareness to this is important.”

Listen to the whole episode here.

**by Ob-Gyn Communications Intern Melis Baskaya