Women with pregnancy-induced hypertension have higher probability of heart failure than those with normotensive pregnancies, especially the ischaemic subtype suggests a new study published in the JACC: Heart Failure
Although adverse pregnancy outcomes are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, studies on timing and subtypes of heart failure after a hypertensive pregnancy are lacking.

The goal of this study was to assess the association between pregnancy-induced hypertensive disorder and risk of heart failure, according to ischemic and nonischemic subtypes, and the impact of disease characteristics and the timing of heart failure risks.
This was a population-based matched cohort study, comprising all primiparous women without a history of cardiovascular disease included in the Swedish Medical Birth Register between 1988 and 2019. Women with pregnancy-induced hypertensive disorder were matched with women with normotensive pregnancies. Through linkage with health care registers, all women were followed up for incident heart failure, classified as ischemic or nonischemic.
Results
In total, 79,334 women with pregnancy-induced hypertensive disorder were matched with 396,531 women with normotensive pregnancies. During a median follow-up of 13 years, rates of all heart failure subtypes were more common among women with pregnancy-induced hypertensive disorder. Compared with women with normotensive pregnancies, adjusted HRs (aHRs) with 95% CIs were as follows: heart failure overall, aHR: 1.70 (95% CI: 1.51-1.91); ischemic heart failure, aHR: 2.28 (95% CI: 1.74-2.98); and nonischemic heart failure, aHR: 1.60 (95% CI: 1.40-1.83). Disease characteristics indicating severe hypertensive disorder were associated with higher heart failure rates, and rates were highest within the first years after the hypertensive pregnancy but remained significantly increased thereafter.
Pregnancy-induced hypertensive disorder is associated with an increased short-term and long-term risk of incident ischemic and nonischemic heart failure. Disease characteristics indicating more severe forms of pregnancy-induced hypertensive disorder amplify the heart failure risks.
Reference:
Ängla Mantel, Anna Sandström, Jonas Faxén, Daniel C. Andersson, Neda Razaz, Sven Cnattingius, Olof Stephansson. Pregnancy-Induced Hypertensive Disorder and Risks of Future Ischemic and Nonischemic Heart Failure,JACC: Heart Failure,
2023, ISSN 2213-1779,https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jchf.2023.03.021.
(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213177923001798)
Keywords:
JACC: Heart Failure, Women, pregnancy-induced, hypertension, higher probability, heart failure, those, normotensive pregnancies, ischaemic subtype, Ängla Mantel, Anna Sandström, Jonas Faxén, Daniel C. Andersson, Neda Razaz, Sven Cnattingius, Olof Stephansson.