In a study to be presented on Feb. 7, at the Society for Maternal-Fetal
Medicine's annual meeting, The Pregnancy Meeting™, in New Orleans,
researchers will report that obesity during pregnancy is an independent
risk factor for long-term cardiovascular morbidity, and these
complications tend to occur at a younger age. Researchers concluded that
obese pregnant patients might benefit from cardiovascular risk
screening that could lead to early detection and secondary prevention of
cardiovascular morbidity.
Obesity is considered a
chronic disease with a dramatic increase in its prevalence worldwide
during the last two decades. Close to one-third of women of childbearing
age are classified as obese, and an additional 25 percent of women in
this age group are classified as overweight. Maternal pre-pregnancy
obesity is a significant risk factor for adverse obstetrical and
perinatal outcomes.
The objective of this study, titled "Obesity
in Pregnancy; What's Next? Long-term cardiovascular morbidity in a
follow-up period of more than a decade," was to investigate whether
obesity in pregnancy is an independent risk factor for long-term
subsequent maternal cardiovascular morbidity during a follow-up period
of more than a decade.
Researchers evaluated data from pregnant
women who delivered between 1988 and 1999, and were followed-up
retrospectively until 2010. Long-term cardiovascular morbidity was
compared among women with and without obesity in pregnancy (defined as
maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index of 30 kg/m2 or more).
Cardiovascular morbidity was divided into four categories including
simple and complex cardiovascular events and invasive and non-invasive
cardiac procedures.
During the period of study, 46,688 women who
delivered were recruited, and of that number, 1221 were found to suffer
from obesity. Ten years later, these patients had higher rates of simple
cardiovascular events, non-invasive diagnostic procedures, and total
number of cardiovascular-related hospitalizations.
The data
recovered not only indicates an association between obesity in pregnancy
and future risk for cardiovascular morbidity, but also reveals the
effect of obesity in pregnancy on earlier occurrence of cardiovascular
morbidity.
Dr. Shimrit Yaniv Salem, Department of Obstetrics and
Gynecology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Soroka University Medical
Center, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer sheva, Israel, said,
"These results are of major importance to the obstetricians counseling a
patient regarding future risk for cardiovascular complications. It is
important for secondary prevention, early detection, and specific
screening programs for this population. As obstetricians, we should
remember to consult our obese patients not only for possible obstetrical
issues but also for long-term cardiovascular complications. Pregnancy
is a unique window of opportunity which has an important role in
promoting life style modifications."
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