1. Forearm venous tone was measured in two groups of pregnant women: one group with pregnancy-induced hypertension and the other group with normal blood pressure.
2. The women with pregnancy-induced hypertension were venoconstricted in the forearm (P < 0.01) compared with the pregnant women with normal blood pressure. However, there was no difference in venous tone between the women with pregnancy-induced hypertension and nonpregnant women.
3. There was an inverse correlation between mean arterial blood pressure and forearm venous tone (r = −0.581, P < 0.001) for all the pregnant women studied. Further evaluation of peripheral venous tone may provide valuable information about the pathophysiology and treatment of women with pregnancy-induced hypertension.
