Preeclampsia and cardiovascular risk

Abstract

The association between preeclampsia and cardiovascular disease has been an increasing area of interest over the last years. Cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death in women in the western world and more women than men die of heart disease each year. The most common pregnancy disorder is preeclampsia. Preeclampsia is defined by hypertension and de novo proteinuria and remains responsible for high maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality worldwide. Pregnancy has been described as a "stress test" for future cardiovascular disease, to identify women young enough to benefit from screening. Women with a history of early onset (severe) preeclampsia have the highest risk of cardiovascular disease later. However, the exact underlying link between the two disorders is still unknown. In this review we describe different facets of the association between preeclampsia and cardiovascular disease and we give an overview of the recent literature.