Abstract
Objective We hypothesized that, as has been shown outside of pregnancy, endothelial dysfunction
would be seen in a dose-dependent fashion among women who smoke in the midtrimester
of pregnancy.
Study Design Endothelial function in women with singleton pregnancies between 16 and 23 weeks
was analyzed utilizing the Endo-PAT2000 device (Itamar Medical Ltd., Caesarea, Israel)
and expressed as a reactive hyperemia ratio (RHI). Serum was drawn to check cotinine
and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP) levels. SAS 9.2 (SAS Institute, Cary,
NC) was used to perform statistical tests including Student t test, analysis of variance, Fisher exact test, and Pearson coefficient.
Results Endothelial function was noninvasively examined in 29 smokers and 31 nonsmokers.
Demographics including age, race, and parity were similar between groups. Mean RHI
was not significantly different between smokers and nonsmokers (1.43 ± 0.32 versus
1.53 ± 0.39, p = 0.27). No correlation was noted when cotinine values were plotted against RHI or
CRP values in smokers (rho = 0.24, p = 0.21 and rho = 0.26, p = 0.18, respectively). RHI did correlate with diastolic blood pressure (rho = −0.40,
p = 0.002), systolic blood pressure (rho = −0.35, p = 0.006), and heart rate (rho = −0.37, p = 0.004).
Conclusion We did not find an association between smoking status and endothelial dysfunction
in the midtrimester utilizing a noninvasive methodology.
Keywords
endothelium - pregnancy - smoking - noninvasive testing
