Cardiometabolic Profiles in Women with a History of Hypertensive and Normotensive Fetal Growth Restriction

Abstract

Background: The majority of evidence on associations between pregnancy complications and future maternal disease focuses on hypertensive (Ht) complications. We hypothesize that impaired cardiometabolic health after pregnancies complicated by severe fetal growth restriction (FGR) is independent of the co-occurrence of hypertension. Materials and Methods: In a prospective cohort of women with a pregnancy complicated by early FGR (delivery <34 weeks gestation), with or without concomitant hypertension, cardiometabolic risk factors were assessed after delivery. A population-based reference cohort was used for comparison, and analyses were adjusted for age, current body mass index (BMI), smoking habits, and hormonal contraceptive use. Results: Median time from delivery to assessment was 4 months in both the Ht (N = 115) and normotensive (Nt) (N = 42) FGR groups. Compared with the reference group (N = 380), in both FGR groups lipid profile and glucose homeostasis at assessment were unfavorable. Women with Ht-FGR had the least favorable cardiometabolic profile, with higher prevalence ratios (PRs) for diastolic blood pressure >85 mmHg (PR 4.0, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.1-6.7), fasting glucose levels >5.6 mmol/L (PR 2.9, 95% CI 1.4-5.6), and total cholesterol levels >6.21 mmol/L (PR 4.5, 95% CI 1.9-8.8), compared with the reference group. Women with Nt-FGR more often had a BMI >30 kg/m² (PR 2.5, 95% CI 1.2-4.7) and high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol levels <1.29 mmol/L (PR 2.4, 95% CI 1.4-3.5), compared with the reference group. Conclusions: Women with a history of FGR showed unfavorable short-term cardiometabolic profiles in comparison with a reference group, independent of the co-occurrence of hypertension. Therefore, women with a history of FGR may benefit from cardiovascular risk factor assessment and subsequent risk reduction strategies.

Keywords: cardiometabolic risk factors; cardiovascular disease; intrauterine fetal growth restriction; pre-eclampsia; pregnancy; prevention.