International Journal of Advances in Medicine | September-October 2018 | Vol 5 | Issue 5 Page 1158 International Journal of Advances in Medicine Lalitha V et al. Int J Adv Med. 2018 Oct;5(5):1158-1162 http://www.ijmedicine.com pISSN 2349-3925 | eISSN 2349-3933 Original Research Article A study on rate pressure product in south Indian pregnant women with anaemia Lalitha Venugopal 1 , Priyadharsini Rajendran 2 *, Parghavi V. 1 INTRODUCTION Physiological changes occur in all systems of the body during pregnancy. The changes in the cardiovascular system include an increase in the cardiac output, heart rate and stroke volume throughout pregnancy, but the systolic and diastolic blood pressures are found to decrease during the second trimester. 1,2 These changes are essential to meet the metabolic demands of the mother as well as the fetus. Anemia is a major public health problem that needs total elimination and is one of the most commonly encountered medical disorders during pregnancy. In developing country like India, anaemia is a cause of serious concern and contributes to a significantly higher maternal mortality. It accounts for nearly 20-40% of maternal deaths and affects both mother and fetus. 3,4 According to WHO, haemoglobin level less than 11gm/dl in pregnant women constitutes anaemia and haemoglobin level below 7 gm/dl is severe anaemia. Severe anaemia during pregnancy is associated with poor fetal outcomes. 5 Increased incidence of pre- term labour, pre-eclampsia, and sepsis have been ABSTRACT Background: Anaemia is a cause of serious concern and contributes to a significantly higher maternal mortality. Rate Pressure Product (RPP) is a major determinant of myocardial oxygen consumption and blood flow. There is an increase in oxygen demand in anemia. Thus, in the present study, we have compared the difference in RPP between a normal pregnant women and pregnant women with anemia. Methods: A total of 180 pregnant women (normal pregnant woman - 90 and pregnant woman with anaemia - 90) belonging to different trimesters of pregnancy were included in the study. Age, height, and weight were recorded, and their body mass index was calculated. The systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, heart rate was recorded and RPP was calculated. Results: There was a significant increase in RPP in pregnant woman with anaemia in all three trimesters of pregnancy, but the significant increase was more in the third trimester. Conclusions: The present study shows that there is an increase in RPP in pregnant woman with anaemia and they are more prone to hemodynamic stress and cardiovascular risks, especially in their third trimester of pregnancy. This hemodynamic change may be taken into account to prevent the cardiovascular complications associated with anemia in pregnancy. Thus, RPP can be used as a sensitive non-invasive simple marker for early diagnosis of cardiovascular disease in pregnant woman. Keywords: Cardiovascular risk, Pregnant woman with anaemia, Rate pressure product 1 Department of Physiology, Indira Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute, Puducherry, India 2 Department of Pharmacology, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate and Medical Education and Research, Puducherry, India Received: 13 August 2018 Accepted: 18 August 2018 *Correspondence: Dr. Priyadharsini Rajendran, E-mail: shalipriya85@gmail.com Copyright: © the author(s), publisher and licensee Medip Academy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18203/2349-3933.ijam20183821