Women who have pre-eclampsia in the first 37 weeks of pregnancy are at greater risk of developing heart problems compared to those who develop the condition in the final weeks of pregnancy, British researchers reported yesterday.
New research – described as a breakthrough in understanding the link between pre-eclampsia and heart conditions – has shown that more than half of pregnant women who suffer from the condition in their first 37 weeks (pre-term) develop left ventricular dysfunction within two years of giving birth.
Although the heart problem is asymptomatic – so there are no obvious symptoms – researchers from St George’s, University of London, UK, could detect signs of the problem with a heart ultrasound scan.
Their findings are published in the journal Hypertension.
Pre-eclampsia affects about 3.5 per cent of pregnancies and is known to be associated with heart failure in later life, but it was not known if there was a difference in the prevalence of heart problems between women with pre-term pre-eclampsia and those who developed it after 37 weeks.
The researchers, led by Professor Basky Thilaganathan, professor of foetal medicine, used echocardiography and tissue Doppler analysis to test for heart abnormalities in 64 women with pre-eclampsia and 78 without.
The risk of asymptomatic heart dysfunction during the pregnancies of women with pre-eclampsia at term, which is when about 80 per cent of pre-eclampsia cases are diagnosed, was found to be as high as those at pre-term.
While the preterm group’s risk increased in the two years after giving birth, the term group’s reduced significantly and was only slightly more at risk than those who did not develop pre-eclampsia at all.
“This is a breakthrough in our understanding of the relationship between pre-eclampsia and heart failure,” said Prof Thilaganathan.
“The risk of asymptomatic heart failure among women with preterm pre-eclampsia is higher, and occurs much earlier, than anyone imagined.
“Effectively, we can now use preterm pre-eclampsia as a surrogate marker to identify and prevent underlying heart problems that may become seriously harmful many years after giving birth.”
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