Pre-eclampsia is associated with increased risk of stroke in the adult offspring: the Helsinki birth cohort
Pre-eclampsia is associated with increased risk of stroke in the adult offspring: the Helsinki birth cohort
Background and Purpose: women who develop pre-eclampsia in pregnancy are at increased risk of cardiovascular disease. The offspring from pregnancies complicated by pre-eclampsia have higher blood pressures during childhood, but little is known about their long-term health. We hypothesized that pre-eclampsia would lead to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease in the offspring.
Methods: we traced 6410 babies born in Helsinki, Finland, from 1934 to 1944. We used the mothers’ blood pressure levels and the presence of proteinuria during pregnancy to define pre-eclampsia and gestational hypertension without proteinuria according to modern criteria.
Results: two hundred eighty-four of the pregnancies were complicated by pre-eclampsia (120 with nonsevere and 164 with severe disease) and 1592 by gestational hypertension. The crude hazard ratio for all forms of stroke among people whose mothers had pre-eclampsia was 1.9 (1.2 to 3.0; P=0.01); among people whose mothers had gestational hypertension, it was 1.4 (1.0 to 1.8; P=0.03). There was no evidence that these pregnancy disorders were associated with coronary heart disease in the offspring. Pre-eclampsia, in particular severe disease, was associated with a reduced mean head circumference at birth, whereas gestational hypertension was associated with an increased head circumference in relation to body length.
Conclusions: people born after pregnancies complicated by pre-eclampsia or gestational hypertension are at increased risk of stroke. The underlying processes may include a local disorder of the blood vessels of the brain as a consequence of either reduced brain growth or impaired brain growth leading to "brain-sparing" responses in utero
coronary artery disease, pre-eclampsia, pregnancy complications, stroke
1176-1180
Kajantie, Eero
d68d55b6-6df1-4195-a914-44c738a6db93
Eriksson, Johan G.
eb96b1c5-af07-4a52-8a73-7541451d32cd
Osmond, Clive
2677bf85-494f-4a78-adf8-580e1b8acb81
Thornburg, Kent
b407f955-ba0d-458b-8e16-5c536ab12605
Barker, David J.P.
5c773838-b094-4ac1-999b-b5869717f243
1 April 2009
Kajantie, Eero
d68d55b6-6df1-4195-a914-44c738a6db93
Eriksson, Johan G.
eb96b1c5-af07-4a52-8a73-7541451d32cd
Osmond, Clive
2677bf85-494f-4a78-adf8-580e1b8acb81
Thornburg, Kent
b407f955-ba0d-458b-8e16-5c536ab12605
Barker, David J.P.
5c773838-b094-4ac1-999b-b5869717f243
Kajantie, Eero, Eriksson, Johan G., Osmond, Clive, Thornburg, Kent and Barker, David J.P.
(2009)
Pre-eclampsia is associated with increased risk of stroke in the adult offspring: the Helsinki birth cohort.
Stroke, 40 (4), .
(doi:10.1161/STROKEAHA.108.538025).
Abstract
Background and Purpose: women who develop pre-eclampsia in pregnancy are at increased risk of cardiovascular disease. The offspring from pregnancies complicated by pre-eclampsia have higher blood pressures during childhood, but little is known about their long-term health. We hypothesized that pre-eclampsia would lead to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease in the offspring.
Methods: we traced 6410 babies born in Helsinki, Finland, from 1934 to 1944. We used the mothers’ blood pressure levels and the presence of proteinuria during pregnancy to define pre-eclampsia and gestational hypertension without proteinuria according to modern criteria.
Results: two hundred eighty-four of the pregnancies were complicated by pre-eclampsia (120 with nonsevere and 164 with severe disease) and 1592 by gestational hypertension. The crude hazard ratio for all forms of stroke among people whose mothers had pre-eclampsia was 1.9 (1.2 to 3.0; P=0.01); among people whose mothers had gestational hypertension, it was 1.4 (1.0 to 1.8; P=0.03). There was no evidence that these pregnancy disorders were associated with coronary heart disease in the offspring. Pre-eclampsia, in particular severe disease, was associated with a reduced mean head circumference at birth, whereas gestational hypertension was associated with an increased head circumference in relation to body length.
Conclusions: people born after pregnancies complicated by pre-eclampsia or gestational hypertension are at increased risk of stroke. The underlying processes may include a local disorder of the blood vessels of the brain as a consequence of either reduced brain growth or impaired brain growth leading to "brain-sparing" responses in utero
This record has no associated files available for download.
More information
Published date: 1 April 2009
Keywords:
coronary artery disease, pre-eclampsia, pregnancy complications, stroke
Organisations:
Dev Origins of Health & Disease
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 68996
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/68996
ISSN: 0039-2499
PURE UUID: 29f8aa35-6b4e-4fd3-8607-6c2ab8d657a3
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 14 Oct 2009
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 02:38
Export record
Altmetrics
Contributors
Author:
Eero Kajantie
Author:
Johan G. Eriksson
Author:
Kent Thornburg
Author:
David J.P. Barker
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics