Prepregnancy cardiometabolic and inflammatory risk factors and subsequent risk of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to examine prepregnancy cardiometabolic and inflammatory markers and the subsequent risk of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy.

STUDY DESIGN

This was a retrospective cohort study of 3380 women who took part in a comprehensive multiphasic health checkup (MHC) examination between 1984 and 1996 and who subsequently delivered at Kaiser Permanente Northern California.

RESULTS

Two hundred five women were diagnosed with a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy. Prepregnancy measurements of overweight/obesity (body mass index, ≥25.0 kg/m(2)), prehypertension, and inflammation (leukocytes, ≥7.2 10(3)/μL) were associated independently with hypertensive disorder of pregnancy risk (odds ratio [OR], 1.6; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.2-2.3; OR, 2.1; 95% CI, 1.5-2.8; and OR, 1.6; 95% CI, 1.1-2.3, respectively). Being overweight/obese and having prehypertension before pregnancy was associated with a 3.5-fold increased risk of hypertensive disorder of pregnancy compared with women with normal levels of both risk factors.

CONCLUSION

A prepregnancy cardiometabolic and inflammation risk profile may help clinicians identify high-risk women to target for early intervention or management of hypertensive disorder of pregnancy.