Pregnancy risk factors predict future cerebrovascular disease risk in offspring

Disturbances in maternal and foetal growth during pregnancy may spell trouble for the offspring, as they contribute to a heightened risk of developing cerebrovascular diseases in adulthood, a study has found.

The study used data from the population-based prospective Northern Finland Birth Cohort and included 11,991 individuals followed from early pregnancy to 52 years of age. Data on pregnancy and birth complications were obtained between the 24th and the 28th gestational week and at birth. Information on ischaemic and haemorrhagic strokes in the offspring were drawn from national registers.

Over a follow-up of 568,821 person-years, 453 (3.8 percent) of the offspring developed a stroke or transient ischaemic attack. Cox proportional hazard models revealed that pregnancy risk factors were associated with cerebrovascular diseases in the offspring.

Concerning the future risk of ischaemic stroke in children, associations were seen for small and large gestational weight gain among normal weight mothers (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 1.93, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.28–2.90 and aHR, 1.54, 95 percent CI, 1.02–2.31, respectively), as well as small birth weight for gestational age (aHR, 1.95, 95 percent CI, 1.21–3.13) and small ponderal index (aHR, 1.36, 95 percent CI, 1.04–1.77).

Meanwhile, threatening miscarriage was associated with an increased risk of any stroke in the offspring (aHR, 1.64, 95 percent CI, 1.14–2.37).

Maternal smoking, hypertension, or birth complications had a null effect on the risks.