In plain words
The endothelium is the thin layer of cells that lines every blood vessel. In healthy pregnancy it helps vessels relax and keeps fluid where it belongs. Endothelial dysfunction means that layer is not working well. Vessels tighten, blood pressure rises, and fluid can leak out of the bloodstream into tissues. This is part of how causes high blood pressure, swelling, and protein in the urine. It is a process clinicians describe, not something a mother can feel directly. It does not mean something you did caused it. If you have headaches, vision changes, or pain under the ribs with high blood pressure, that is a reason to call your provider now. Those signs point to the same process in more serious form.
The deeper version
Preeclampsia is widely described as a syndrome of placental ischemia producing an antiangiogenic state: excess (sFlt-1) and soluble endoglin bind VEGF, PlGF, and TGF-beta, causing systemic endothelial dysfunction, vasoconstriction, capillary leak, and glomerular endotheliosis (Levine et al., NEJM 2004; Maynard et al., 2003). Measured endothelial function in women with preeclampsia shows impaired flow-mediated . The sFlt-1 to PlGF ratio has been validated for short-term prediction of preeclampsia in suspected cases, with cut-offs used in the PROGNOSIS and PRECOG studies. The mechanisms are a leading hypothesis rather than a settled account, and the relative weight of placental and maternal factors remains debated.
Where it comes up
- High blood pressure and preeclampsiaPregnancy: Your Body
- Postpartum preeclampsia: the warning signsPostpartum: Your Body
- Swelling: feet, ankles, hands, facePregnancy: Your Body
- Headaches and migrainesPregnancy: Your Body
What mothers here say about endothelial dysfunction
No one has posted under this term yet.
Sources
- Levine RJ et al. — Circulating angiogenic factors and the risk of preeclampsia. New England Journal of Medicine, 2004
- American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists — Hypertension in pregnancy, Report of the Task Force, 2013