title: Does preterm birth influence cardiovascular risk in early adulthood?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the effect of preterm birth on risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD), independent of birth size.
  
  
  METHODS
  Observational study using data of 406 healthy participants aged 18-24 years, from the PROgramming factors for Growth And Metabolism and Prematurity and Small for Gestational Age studies. Associations between gestational age (GA), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), pulse pressure (PP), blood pressure variability, heart rate (HR), pulse wave velocity, and carotid intima media thickness (cIMT) were studied. To study the differential effects of preterm birth and small birth size for gestational age, these parameters were also analyzed in subgroups born either preterm or term: young adults born small for gestational age with short or normal adult stature, and young adults born appropriate for gestational age with normal adult stature.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Subjects born preterm (GA <36 weeks) had higher unadjusted SBP, PP, SBP and DBP variability, and HR, but a lower DBP than subjects born term. GA was inversely associated with SBP, PP, blood pressure variability, and HR, and positively associated with DBP, also after adjustment for confounders. There was no effect of GA on pulse wave velocity and cIMT, a marker of atherosclerosis. Of all the CVD risk factors measured, higher PP affected cIMT the most.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Young adults born preterm might have a higher risk for CVD than those born term.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Subdivision of Endocrinology, Erasmus MC/Sophia Children's Hospital, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Gerthe F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Kerkhof
authors.forename: Petra E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Breukhoven
authors.forename: Ralph W J
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Leunissen
authors.forename: Ruben H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Willemsen
authors.forename: Anita C S
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Hokken-Koelega
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001794:Blood Pressure; D001827:Body Height; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D059168:Carotid Intima-Media Thickness; D005865:Gestational Age; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007236:Infant, Small for Gestational Age / Q000502:physiology; D047928:Premature Birth / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D055815:Young Adult