Hematologic considerations of pregnancy-induced hypertension

The woman with pregnancy-induced hypertension may develop one or more hematologic changes that include a decrease or absence of the increased blood volume of normal pregnancy, alterations of the coagulation mechanism, and hemolysis. These changes appear to be related to the severity and the duration of the hypertension. Thus women with eclampsia or those with severe pregnancy hypertension superimposed upon chronic vascular disease, as evident in the case summarized below, are most likely to develop troublesome hematologic aberrations.