Sisters of Those With Adverse Pregnancy Outcome Also Have Increased CVD Risk

FRIDAY, Feb. 21, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Women with adverse pregnancy outcomes (APOs) have an increased risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD), as do their APO-free sisters, according to a study published online Feb. 7 in the European Heart Journal.

Ängla Mantel, M.D., Ph.D., from Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, and colleagues conducted a nationwide population-based cohort study involving primiparous women without prior CVD with registered singleton births between 1992 and 2019. Participants were classified as women with one or more APOs (165,628), APO-free sisters (60,769), and unrelated APO-free comparators (992,108). Participants were followed longitudinally from delivery until 2021 for the primary end point of major adverse cardiac events.

The researchers found that APO-exposed women had increased rates of CVDs relative to APO-free comparators during a median follow-up of 14 years. Compared with APO-free comparators, APO-free sisters had increased adjusted hazard ratios of major adverse cardiac events, heart failure, and cerebrovascular events (adjusted hazard ratios, 1.39, 1.65, and 1.37, respectively); there was no significant increase in ischemic heart disease. Lower CVD rates were seen in APO-free sisters versus their APO-exposed counterparts in a within-family analysis, apart from cerebrovascular events, which did not differ significantly.

“Implementation of tailored preventive strategies for both women with APOs and women with heredity for APOs is paramount in mitigating the heightened CV risk within this vulnerable population,” the authors write.

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