History of adverse pregnancy outcomes associated with coronary artery disease

FRIDAY, March 17, 2023 (HealthDay News) — There is a significant association between a history of adverse pregnancy outcomes and later imaging-identified coronary artery disease, according to a study published in the February 7 issue Journal of the American Medical Association.

Sofia Sederholm Lawesson, MD, Ph.D., of Linköping University Hospital in Sweden, and colleagues studied the associations between a history of adverse pregnancy outcomes (pre-eclampsia, gestational hypertension, preterm delivery, too small for gestational age and week of gestation). diabetes) and later coronary artery disease assessed by coronary computed tomography angiography screening. Data were included for a population-based cohort of 10,528 women in Sweden with one or more births in 1973 or later, who subsequently aged 50 to 65 years participated in the Swedish Cardiopulmonary Bioimage Study from 2013 to 2018.

The researchers found that 18.9 percent of women had a history of poor pregnancy outcomes, with specific pregnancy histories ranging from 1.4 percent for gestational diabetes to 9.5 percent for preterm birth. In women with an adverse pregnancy outcome, the prevalence of any coronary arteriosclerosis was 32.1 percent, which was significantly higher than in reference women with no history of adverse pregnancy outcomes (prevalence ratio 1.14). A history of gestational hypertension and preeclampsia were both associated with a similarly increased prevalence of all outcomes. In adjusted models, odds ratios for preeclampsia ranged from 1.31 to 2.21 for any coronary atherosclerosis or significant stenosis, respectively. Women with low predicted cardiovascular risk had similar associations for a history of preeclampsia or gestational hypertension.

“Our results suggest that the correlation exists even in women with a low expected risk of cardiovascular disease,” a co-author said in a statement. “The study is an important piece of the puzzle to understand how women with pregnancy complications should be followed up by their healthcare provider after pregnancy.”

Several authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

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