Abstract 026: Early-onset Preeclampsia is Associated With Left Ventricular Concentric Remodeling at 1-month Post-partum Follow-up

Abstract

Preeclampsia (PE) is associated with persistent cardiac abnormalities and a high cardiovascular risk during the woman life. Early onset PE presenting before the 34 th gestational week is a more severe form of disease, but its relevance on cardiac abnormalities is unknown. The aim of this study was to assess cardiac structure and function in women with PE without preexistent hypertension. One month after delivery, the clinical and echocardiographic variables of 65 preeclamptic women (age 36±6 y), 37% of which with early PE, was compared with a group of 30 normotensive (age 37±6 y), 16 hypertensive (age 40±5 y) nonpregnant women, and 6 women with normal pregnancy (age 36±5 y) who were matched for age and height. Despite comparable antihypertensive treatment, women with early PE had lower 24-hour average systolic and diastolic blood pressure than those with late PE (125±11 Vs 136±15). Left ventricle (LV) relative wall thickness was significantly greater in women with early PE (0.36±0.06) than in those with late PE (0.31±0.07; p<0.05) and normotensive (0.30±0.06; p<0.05) women, but not hypertensive women (figure). Women with early and late PE had comparably greater LV mass and worse diastolic function as assessed by the E/A ratio (PE 1.6±0.4 Vs 1.8±0.4 P<0.01) and isovolumic relaxation time (PE 96±28 Vs 73±12 msec, P<0.001) than normotensive women. In conclusion, women with early onset PE have more pronounced LV concentric remodeling than women with late onset PE. This observation could account for the greater cardiovascular risk of these patients and might prompt the use of antihypertensive drugs specifically acting on LV remodeling.