Risk for Postpartum CVD Readmissions Higher for Twin Pregnancies

MONDAY, Feb. 10, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Twin pregnancies have increased risks for cardiovascular disease (CVD) readmissions in the first year postpartum, even in the absence of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP), according to a study published online Feb. 3 in the European Heart Journal.

Ruby Lin, M.D., from Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and colleagues estimated the rates of CVD readmission in twin deliveries with and without HDP and singleton deliveries with and without HDP using the Nationwide Readmissions Database of U.S. hospitals from 2010 to 2020.

The researchers found that the rates of CVD readmission in twin and singleton pregnancies were 1,105.4 and 734.1 per 100,000 delivery admissions, respectively, among 36 million delivery hospitalizations. Compared with singleton pregnancies without HDP, the adjusted hazard ratios for CVD readmissions were highest for twin pregnancies with HDP, followed by singleton pregnancies with HDP and twin pregnancies without HDP (hazard ratios, 8.21, 5.89, and 1.95, respectively).

“Our findings of increased heart disease and stroke in patients with twin pregnancies up to 12 months postdelivery should not be discounted despite the previous research showing no long-term increase in cardiovascular morbidity or mortality for twin pregnancies, given maternal mortality is associated with CVD,” the authors write.

Abstract/Full Text