ABC | Volume 114, Nº4, April 2020

Original Article Linhares et al. Hydrotherapy reduces arterial stiffness in pregnant women Arq Bras Cardiol. 2020; 114(4):647-654 Conclusion In a pioneering study, we demonstrated that a hydrotherapy session is able to promote a reduction in AS assessed by Alx@75 in high-risk pregnant women with CH in the third trimester of pregnancy. Limitations Our study has potential limitations. The number of patients evaluated was relatively small, even though it respected the sample size calculated a priori for a proper evaluation of the hypothesis. Also, we recognize that the study was conducted at a single center and, for greater sample homogeneity, was restricted to the gestational period of 24 to 34 weeks; therefore, it may not represent the entire universe of pregnant women with CH. Weonly evaluated the acute effect of a singlehydrotherapy session; however, being safe and potentially beneficial, there is a promising possibility of amplification of these initial results if the intervention is performed more continuously in this patient population. Wehope that similar research canbe conducted in a larger number of patients of different ethnic and social characteristics and in other locations to replicate and broaden our findings. Author contributions Conception and design of the research, acquisition of data analysis and interpretation of the data: Linhares GM, Machado AV, Malachias MVB; statistical analysis, writing of the manuscript and critical revision of the manuscript for intellectual content: Linhares GM, Malachias MVB. Potential Conflict of Interest No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported. Sources of Funding There were no external funding sources for this study. Study Association This article is part of the thesis of master submitted by Giovana Macêdo Linhares, from Faculdade de de Ciências Médicas de Minas Gerais/Fundação Educacional Lucas Machado. Ethics approval and consent to participate This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Faculdade de de Ciências Médicas de Minas Gerais under the protocol number 35487814.1.000.5134 . All the procedures in this study were in accordance with the 1975 Helsinki Declaration, updated in 2013. Informed consent was obtained from all participants included in the study. 1. Say L, Chou D, Gemmill A, Tunçalp Ö, Moller AB, Daniels J, et al. Global causes of maternal death: aWHO systematic analysis. Lancet Glob Health. 2014;2(6):323-33. 2. Bramham K, Parnell B, Nelson-Piercy C, Seed PT, Poston L, et al. Chronic hypertension and pregnancy outcomes: systematic review and meta- analysis. BMJ. 2014 Apr 15;348:g2301. 3. Roberts JM, August PA, Bakris G, Barton JR, Bernstein IM, Druzin M, et al. 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