Abstract 12905: Prevalence of Cardiovascular Disease in Mid-Life Among Women Who Have Had a Child With Congenital Heart Disease

Abstract

Background: Women whose offspring have congenital heart disease (CHD) have higher risk of cardiovascular (CV) disease and mortality later in life. The mechanism is not well-understood and may be related to angiogenic imbalance, genetic predisposition, or stress-related pathways. We aimed to describe the prevalence of CV disease and traditional and sex-specific risk factors among women with a child with CHD at 18-23 years after delivery. Methods: We conducted an online survey among mothers whose infants had undergone cardiac surgery before six months of age and enrolled in a prospective observational study at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Maternal surveys investigated sociodemographic characteristics and self-reported health behaviors and medical history. We described the prevalence of baseline characteristics. Results: 531 women were contacted and 220 (41%) completed the survey and are included in this analysis. Child and maternal characteristics are presented in Table. Mean maternal age was 52 years, 86% were White, and 68% completed college. Regarding sex-specific risk factors, 10% had preeclampsia and 32% had history of preterm delivery. The most common traditional CV risk factors were high cholesterol (32%) and hypertension (27%). Overall, 4.6% of women reported a history of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) and 15% reported any cardiac disease, as defined by arrhythmia, structural heart disease, or ASCVD. Of the 6 women with prior myocardial infarction (2.7%), mean age at onset was 44 years. Complexity of the child’s CHD was significantly associated with prevalence of ASCVD but not other types of CV disease (p=0.008) Conclusion: Having a child with CHD is a potentially important sex-specific CV risk factor that is not well-studied. Understanding how this maternal characteristic interacts with other traditional and sex-specific risk factors is critical to understanding mechanistic pathways leading to CV disease in these women.