Cardiovascular disease risk factors in women with a history of early-onset preeclampsia

OBJECTIVE: To assess the prevalence of established cardiovascular disease risk factors and to estimate 10-year absolute risk of cardiovascular disease after early-onset preeclampsia.

METHODS: We assessed major cardiovascular disease risk factors in 243 primiparous women with a history of early-onset preeclampsia (delivery at less than 34 weeks of gestation) at least 6 months after delivery; 374 healthy nonpregnant women of similar age served as a reference group.

RESULTS: After adjustment for age, we observed significantly higher means for body mass index, blood pressure, total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose, and lower mean high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (all P<.01) in women with previous early-onset preeclampsia compared with the reference group. Prevalence of the metabolic syndrome was 15.2% compared with 4.3% (P<.001), two or more major cardiovascular disease risk factors were present in 51.0% compared with 26.5%, and three or more risk factors were present in 18.9% compared with 6.4%, respectively. Mean estimated 10-year cardiovascular disease risks by the Framingham Risk Score were 1.08% (95% confidence interval 1.04-1.12) and 1.01% (95% CI 1.00-1.01; P<.001) for the difference.

CONCLUSION: Women with a history of early-onset preeclampsia have a high prevalence of several major cardiovascular disease risk factors. Although the estimated 10-year cardiovascular disease risk is low (less than 5%) after delivery, cardiovascular disease risk is expected to increase rapidly with increasing age.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II.