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Aspirin vs Heparin for the Prevention of Preeclampsia

  • Preeclampsia (VD Garovic, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Preeclampsia is a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy that remains a significant cause of maternal morbidity and mortality worldwide. Preeclampsia can be resolved by delivery, and most of the proposed preventive treatment approaches are based on processes involved in placental development in early pregnancy. Yet, none of these has been established in clinical practice. Low-dose aspirin is the most promising candidate, nevertheless; while some individual randomized controlled trials showed minimal or no statistically significant benefit, recent metanalyses showed that early initiation before 16 weeks of gestation is associated with prevention of early-onset preeclampsia and reduction in prevalence of perinatal death or morbidity of pregnant women. Heparin could be an alternative antithrombotic and anti-inflammatory median to prevent preeclampsia either alone or in combination with aspirin; however, results are conflicting concerning efficacy.

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Acknowledgments

All authors declare no conflict of interest and no financial support for the study.

Theoni Kanellopoulou has fellowship of Hellenic Society of Hematology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cardiology, Hippokration Hospital, Athens, Greece

    Vasiliki Katsi & Petros Nihoyannopoulos

  2. Blood Bank and Hemophilia Unit, Hippokration Hospital, 32, Dimarchiou str., 122-42 Aegaleo, Athens, Greece

    Theoni Kanellopoulou & Efrosyni Nomikou

  3. Department of Cardiology, Helena Venizelou Hospital, Athens, Greece

    Thomas Makris

  4. First Cardiology Department, Athens University Medical School, Hippokration Hospital, Athens, Greece

    Dimitrios Tousoulis

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  1. Vasiliki Katsi
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Correspondence to Theoni Kanellopoulou.

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Katsi, V., Kanellopoulou, T., Makris, T. et al. Aspirin vs Heparin for the Prevention of Preeclampsia. Curr Hypertens Rep 18, 57 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11906-016-0664-3

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