Author: Carlos Alonso Escudero

Publisher: Frontiers Media SA

Published: 2019-11-22

Total Pages: 136

ISBN-13: 2889632016

Pregnancy is a physiologically stressful condition that generates a series of functional adaptations in the cardiovascular system. The impact of pregnancy on this system persists from conception beyond birth. Recent evidence suggests that vascular changes associated with pregnancy complications, such as preeclampsia; gestational diabetes; growth restriction; autoimmune diseases; among others, affect the function of the maternal and offspring vascular systems, after delivery and may be extended until adult life. Since the vascular system contributes to systemic homeostasis, defective development or function of blood vessels predisposes both mother and infant to future risk for chronic disease. In Latin American countries, like other low (LIC) and middle-income countries (MIC) worldwide, the rate of morbi-mortality due to both pregnancy complications and cardiovascular diseases have a higher incidence than in high-income countries (HIC). But, investigation in LIC and MIC, in particular in Latin America, still fall short of what would be expected considering the magnitude of those diseases. Although there are obvious deficiencies in terms of economies and scientific infrastructure between HIC and MIC or LIC, Latin American strength in terms of scientific productivity in this filed could be underestimated due to language limitation and publication in journals not indexed in major citation databases, resulting in low impact publications. As a result, we could speculate that potentially unique features of vascular disease associated to pregnancies complications can be unnoted in the global scientific community. Then, we would like to encourage researchers in vascular biology, in which, many groups in Latin America have contributed to both better understand vascular dysfunction associated to pregnancy diseases and show the gaps in the literature, to overcome this hidden effect of our scientific production. This effort also will homogenize clinical concepts and knowledge that may strength the scientific effort in Latin America.