[Treatment of hypertension in pregnant women with beta-blockers. 60 cases (author's transl)].

Fifty-nine hypertensive women were treated with beta-blockers during 60 pregnancies. Acebutolol was used in 28 cases, pindolol in 21, atenolol in 10 and propanolol in one. Concomitant administration of dihydralazine was required in 6 cases. In 6 women beta-blockade was started before, and continued throughout pregnancy. Treatment was initiated after the 13th week of gestation in the majority of patients and before the 12th week in two. Twenty women were known to have hypertension long before they became pregnant, and renal disorders were diagnosed in seven. Satisfactory control of blood pressure, with values below 140-90 mmHg, was achieved in 55 cases, and in the same number of cases delivery occurred after 38th week. No clinical or biological side-effects were observed in either mothers or infants. The birth weight was superior to 2500 g in 51 children, including 37 who weighed more than 3000 g. There was only one death in utero. One child born at 35 weeks with multiple malformations and another with meconium ileus also died. Beta-blockers may therefore be safely used to treat most cases of hypertension during pregnancy, provided close supervision is exerted throughout the gestation period.