Maternal Placental Syndrome Increases Risk of Cardiovascular Disease, Study Says

Pregnant women who experience maternal placental syndrome -- which includes high blood pressure and preeclampsia -- are three times as likely as other women to later experience cardiovascular disease, according to a study published in the Nov. 19 edition of the journal Lancet, the Toronto Star reports (Harvey, Toronto Star, 11/18). Joel Ray and colleagues at the University of Toronto studied the records of more than one million women living in Canada's Ontario province who had not had cardiovascular disease before delivering their first infant. Researchers examined the women's medical records for evidence of cardiovascular disease for an average of nine years after giving birth (BBC News, 11/18). Out of the approximately 75,000 women who were diagnosed with maternal placental syndrome, 305 experienced a heart attack, angina, stroke, or peripheral artery disease or needed surgery to open blocked arteries within nine years of giving birth. The average age of a "serious cardiovascular event" among the women was 38 years old, and the average age of first birth among study participants was 28 years old, the CP/Canada reports (Ubelacker, CP/Canada, 11/19). "We believe the maternal placental syndrome should be considered as an additional risk factor for cardiovascular disease," Ray said (Reuters, 11/17). Ray said that a woman's "metabolic state prior to pregnancy, during pregnancy and after pregnancy that predisposes her to both maternal placental syndrome and cardiovascular disease" (CP/Canada, 11/18).


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