This Article Free upon publication Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 51/4/993    most recent HYPERTENSIONAHA.107.104489v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Sibai, B. M. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Sibai, B. M. Pubmed/NCBI databases Medline Plus Health Information High Blood Pressure in Pregnancy High Risk Pregnancy Related Collections Other hypertension Related Article

(Hypertension. 2008;51:993.)
© 2008 American Heart Association, Inc.

Go Red Editorial Commentaries

Intergenerational Factors

A Missing Link for Preeclampsia, Fetal Growth Restriction, and Cardiovascular Disease?

Baha M. Sibai

From the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Ohio.

Correspondence to Baha M. Sibai, 231 Albert Sabin Way, Cincinnati, OH 45267. E-mail baha.sibai@uc.edu

An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract.

Preeclampsia and fetal growth restriction (FGR) are 2 obstetric syndromes that are generally associated with increased perinatal and maternal morbidities. Preeclampsia is defined as the onset of hypertension and proteinuria after 20 weeks gestation, and it complicates 3% to 5% of all pregnancies. FGR is defined as a birth weight below the fifth or 10th percentile for gestational age, and it can develop alone or in association with preeclampsia. Preeclampsia and FGR share similar pathophysiologic abnormalities, such as reduced uteroplacental blood flow, exaggerated inflammatory response, endothelial cell dysfunction, and a state of imbalance between proangiogenic and antiangiogenic factors.¹ These pathophysiologic abnormalities are presumed to be the result of a cascade of events secondary to shallow trophoblast invasion and defective remodeling of the uterine spiral arteries. However, the etiologies of preeclampsia and FGR are multifactorial, and only FGR and preeclampsia related to placental insufficiency probably share abnormal placentation as a common pathway.

Pregnancies complicated by preeclampsia are associated with increased rates of FGR. Women with a history of preeclampsia in a previous pregnancy are also at increased risk for preeclampsia and/or FGR in subsequent pregnancies.² The magnitude of the above risks depends on gestational age at onset of preeclampsia in the index pregnancy (the earlier in gestation the onset of preeclampsia, the higher are the rates of FGR and recurrent preeclampsia).^2,3 In addition, women who are born fetal growth restricted are at increased risk of severe preeclampsia and FGR when they get pregnant,⁴ and they are at increased risk for cardiovascular . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Related Article:

Shared Constitutional Risks for Maternal Vascular-Related Pregnancy Complications and Future Cardiovascular Disease

Anne L. Berends, Christianne J.M. de Groot, Eric J. Sijbrands, Mark P.S. Sie, Sofie H. Benneheij, Richard Pal, Roger Heydanus, Ben A. Oostra, Cornelia M. van Duijn, and Eric A.P. Steegers
Hypertension 2008 51: 1034-1041. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

This article has been cited by other articles:

				G. Valdes, F. Quezada, E. Marchant, A. von Schultzendorff, S. Moran, O. Padilla, and A. Martinez Association of Remote Hypertension in Pregnancy With Coronary Artery Disease: A Case-Control Study Hypertension, April 1, 2009; 53(4): 733 - 738. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]