Dyslipoproteinaemia in postmenopausal women with a history of eclampsia

• Published in: BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology
• Main Authors: Hubel, C A, Snaedal, S, Ness, R B, Weissfeld, L A, Geirsson, R T, Roberts, J M, Arngrimsson, R
• Other Authors: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Pittsburgh, USA.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley-Blackwell 2010
• Subjects: Aged; Blood Glucose; Cardiovascular Diseases; Eclampsia; Female; Humans; Hypolipoproteinemias; Insulin; Lipids; Lipoproteins; LDL; Middle Aged; Postmenopause; Pregnancy; Risk Factors; Iceland
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2336/115234; https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-0528.2000.tb13340.x

To access publisher full text version of this article. Please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that postmenopausal women with a history of eclampsia manifest a more high risk lipid profile than postmenopausal women with a history of normal pregnancy. SETTING: The Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, National University Hospital, Reykjavik, Iceland, and the Magee-Womens Research Institute, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. PARTICIPANTS: Thirty Icelandic women with a history of eclampsia, aged between 50 and 67 years at the time of re-examination (cases) were individually matched for current age, and for age and parity at index pregnancy, to 30 unrelated Icelandic women with a history of normal pregnancy (controls). METHODS: The participating women completed a health and family history questionnaire and underwent a physical examination. Fasting plasma low density lipoprotein diameter, serum lipids, insulin, and glucose were measured. RESULTS: Mean low density lipoprotein size was significantly smaller and apolipoprotein B concentration was higher in women with prior eclampsia. The percentage of cases receiving blood pressure medication (33%) was significantly greater than controls (6.7%). Thirteen cases had had hypertensive complications in at least one other pregnancy (recurrent subgroup); postmenopausally, these women displayed significantly increased diastolic blood pressures, smaller-sized low density lipoprotein, increased apolipoprotein B, decreased high density lipoprotein2 (HDL2) cholesterol, and increased total cholesterol: HDL cholesterol ratio compared with their controls. Fourteen cases were normotensive in all other pregnancies (nonrecurrent); these showed no differences from their controls. CONCLUSIONS: Dyslipoproteinaemia is more prevalent among postmenopausal women with prior eclampsia, especially with recurrent hypertension in pregnancy, than in postmenopausal women with prior normal pregnancies.