Early onset preeclampsia in subsequent pregnancies correlates with early onset preeclampsia in first pregnancy.
OBJECTIVE
Preeclampsia is a major complication of pregnancy and its occurrence in a first pregnancy is a major risk factor for recurrence in subsequent pregnancies. Whether the time of onset or the severity of preeclampsia in a first pregnancy is associated with the incidence of recurrent preeclampsia is not clear. We performed a retrospective study to analyse the incidence of recurrent preeclampsia and associations of the time of onset and the severity of preeclampsia between first preeclampsia and recurrent preeclampsia.


METHODS
Ninety-two women with previous preeclampsia who had a second pregnancy in a 4 year period were included. Data on the first and second pregnancies were obtained and included maternal age, maternal height and weight, gestation week at onset of preeclampsia and at delivery, blood pressure, proteinuria, interval between pregnancies and birth weights.


RESULTS
Fifty-five women with previous preeclampsia developed recurrent preeclampsia (59.8%). The difference in the incidence of recurrent early and late onset preeclampsia was not significant different (65.3% versus 53.4%, p>0.05). The difference in the incidence of mild or severe disease in those who experienced recurrent preeclampsia was also not significant (59.6% versus 60%, p>0.05). The severity of preeclampsia in second pregnancy was not associated with the severity of preeclampsia in first pregnancy. However 93.7% women with previous early onset preeclampsia developed early onset preeclampsia in second pregnancy and 56.5% women with previous late onset preeclampsia developed early onset preeclampsia in second pregnancy. In addition, 76.2% women with previous mild preeclampsia developed severe preeclampsia in second pregnancy. The baby weight in recurrent preeclampsia was significantly decreased compared to that in first pregnancy with preeclampsia.


CONCLUSIONS
Our data demonstrate that there was no association between the incidence of recurrent preeclampsia and the time of onset or severity of preeclampsia in first pregnancy. But our data here may suggest that women with early onset preeclampsia in first pregnancy are more likely to experience early onset preeclampsia in second pregnancy. The severity of recurrent preeclampsia is increased regardless the severity in first pregnancy.
Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, First affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.
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Li
Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, First affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.
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Chen
Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, First affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.
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Dong
Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, First affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.
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Gou
Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
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Lau
Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
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Stone
Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand; The Hospital of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Fudan University, Shanghai, China. Electronic address: q.chen@auckland.ac.nz.
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Chen
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001721:Birth Intervals; D001724:Birth Weight; D015992:Body Mass Index; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D020073:Gravidity; D006801:Humans; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D012008:Recurrence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult
China; Preeclampsia; Recurrent preeclampsia; Severity; Time of onset