New onset delayed postpartum preeclampsia: different disorders?

Objective: Delayed postpartum preeclampsia is a poorly studied disorder. We compared new onset delayed postpartum preeclampsia (NOPP) to recurrent/persistent, delayed onset postpartum preeclampsia (RPP) to see whether these were different disorders.

Methods: Delayed onset preeclampsia was defined as readmission >2 days to ≤ 6 weeks postpartum for preeclampsia. The NOPP group had no antecedent diagnosis of hypertensive disorders in the current pregnancy, and was compared to the RPP defined as a prior hypertensive disorder in the current pregnancy in terms of maternal demographics, obstetric and medical history, intrapartum and early postpartum course and clinical signs and symptoms and outcomes on postpartum readmission.

Results: There were a total of 56 (36.8%) patients in the RPP and 96 (63.2%) patients in the NOPP groups. NOPP cases delivered significantly later 39.0 ± 2 weeks vs. 37 ± 3.0 weeks p < 0.001, and had significantly lower blood pressure during the antepartum, early postpartum and readmission periods. In addition the NOPP group had significantly higher average number of symptoms 2 vs. 1.5 p = 0.013 on postpartum readmission. There were no statistically significant differences in the rates of major complications.

Conclusions: In this comprehensive study of delayed postpartum preeclampsia, there were few significant differences in the clinical course and no differences in complications in the NOPP subgroup compared to cases with preeclampsia recurring in the late postpartum period.