AN EVALUATION OF FUNDOSCOPIC FINDINGS IN PATIENTS OF HYPERTENSIVE DISORDERS OF PREGNANCY

Aim: The aim of the present study was to assess the prevalence of retinal changes in hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and to understand the association between retinal changes and severity of hypertension and proteinuria. Methods: The Observational Analytical Cross-Sectional Study was conducted in the Department of Ophthalmology, MGM Medical College and LSK, Kishanganj for the period of 18 Months. 125 cases were included in the study. Results: The majority of pregnant women with pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH) were aged 21–25 years (57.6%), followed by 26–30 years (22.4%), suggesting that younger pregnant women are more susceptible to PIH. Most patients with PIH were primigravida (62.4%), while 37.6% were multigravida. A significant proportion of PIH cases (64.8%) occurred after 32 weeks of gestation, while only 3.2% presented between 20–24 weeks, indicating that PIH predominantly manifests in the third trimester. Most patients (64%) had mild hypertension (<150/100 mmHg), while 36% had severe hypertension (≥150/100 mmHg), highlighting that a considerable proportion of PIH cases progress to severe hypertension. Over half of the patients (52%) had mild proteinuria (1+), while 34.4% had moderate (2+) and 13.6% had severe proteinuria (3+), suggesting that proteinuria severity varies widely in PIH. Conclusion: Our study sheds light on the prevalence and impact of hypertensive disorders in pregnancy, emphasizing significant associations between retinal changes and factors such as blood pressure severity, proteinuria, maternal age, and parity. The findings highlight that younger and older maternal ages, primigravida status, advanced gestational age, severe hypertension, and higher grades of proteinuria are key risk factors for retinal involvement. While hypertensive retinopathy was the most common ocular finding, severe retinopathy grades were rare