title: Impaired coronary microvascular function and increased intima-media thickness in preeclampsia.
abstract: There is an association between preeclampsia (PE) and excessive morbidity and mortality. Some recent studies have revealed the presence of endothelial dysfunction in PE patients with inflammatory activity. Moreover, it has been argued that the chronic inflammatory state involved in PE leads to an acceleration in atherosclerosis. Accordingly, our goal in this study is to determine whether there is any coronary microvascular dysfunction and increase in the intima-media thickness in patients who had mild PE 5 years before, without the presence of any traditional cardiovascular risk factors. The study included 33 mild PE patients (mild preeclampsia is classified as a blood pressure (BP) of 140/90 mm Hg or higher with proteinuria of 0.3 to 3 g/d) whose mean age was 33.7 years old, and 29 healthy women volunteers whose mean age was 36.1 years old. Each subject was examined using transthoracic echocardiography 5 years after their deliveries. During the echocardiographic examination, coronary flow reserve (CFR) and carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) were measured. There was a statistically lower CFR value in PE patients as compared with controls (2.39 ± 0.48 vs. 2.90 ± 0.49; P < .001). On the other hand, there was a significant increase in their IMT and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) values (respectively, 0.59 ± 0.15 vs. 0.46 ± 0.10; P < .001 and 3.80 ± 2.10 vs. 2.33 ± 1.79; P = .004). There was a negative correlation between the CFR values of the PE patients and hs-CRP (r = -0.568; P = .001) and IMT (r = -0.683, P < .001) results.We determined in the study that there was impaired CFR and increased carotid IMT in patients with PE, and, moreover, that these adverse effects were significantly correlated with hs-CRP.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynocology, Baskent University, Ankara, Turkey. Electronic address: faikaceylanciftci@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Faika C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Ciftci
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Baskent University, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mustafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Caliskan
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Baskent University, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ozgur
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ciftci
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Baskent University, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Hakan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gullu
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynocology, Baskent University, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ayla
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Uckuyu
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynocology, Baskent University, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Erzat
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Toprak
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynocology, Baskent University, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Filiz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Yanik
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D059168:Carotid Intima-Media Thickness; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003326:Coronary Circulation / Q000502:physiology*; D004452:Echocardiography; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008833:Microcirculation / Q000502:physiology; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D012016:Reference Values; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D017540:Tunica Media / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000469:parasitology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: CFR; Carotid atherosclerosis; endothelial function; toxemia