Association of Pregnancy-Related Factors and Cardiovascular Disease in the Long Term

Abstract

Aim To observe the association of pregnancy-related factors on the incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Introduction CVD is one of the leading causes of death in women. It really emphasizes the need for early recognition of cardiovascular risk in women. Heart disease in women poses a major challenge in that the first events are more likely to be fatal. Pregnancy itself predicts cardiovascular disease in later life and is a screening test for CVD. Methods Total 136 female patients from the outpatient clinic, as well as patients of our hospital, were included in our retrospective single-center study. Along with demographic data and details of risk factors, the reproductive history of all patients such as age at first pregnancy, number of children, any hormonal therapy, and mode and place of delivery were noted. Pregnancy-related data, such as the history of hypertension, diabetes, abortion, pregnancy loss; preterm delivery; and the weight of the newborn were taken into consideration. We excluded unmarried and nulliparous women. Results The study population comprised 136 female patients. There were 69 (50.74%) in group 1 (coronary artery disease [CAD] group) and 67 (49.36%) in group 2 (non-CAD group). Mean age of patients at enrollment was 53.2 ± 12.52 years. Twenty-seven (19.8%) patients fell under lost pregnancy or child category, and abortions and preterm delivery were faced in 26 (19.1%). Seventy-one (52.2%) patients attained menopause whereas hysterectomy was done in 35 (25.7%). The average age of hysterectomy was 38.37 ± 8.50 years, and that for menopause was 46.78 ± 5.04 years. During pregnancy, the history of hypertension was given only in 4 (3%), diabetes was in given none, and history of a low birth weight of the newborn was given in 3 (2.2%) women. The univariate analysis was done to see the statistical significance of mainly pregnancy factors on long-term cardiac outcomes along with risk factors. Generally, hypertension (p = 0.01) and diabetes (p = 0.01) had significance with cardiac outcomes. In spite of these, the history of a lost pregnancy/child and pregnancy complications both have shown near significance, that is, p = 0.06. Conclusion Our study suggests an impact of pregnancy loss irrespective of the etiology on the future cardiac outcomes as along with predominant impact factors of hypertension and diabetes.