Gestational hypertension leads to 57% increased risk of calcification

Gestational hypertension normally resolves following birth, and blood pressure returns to normal. But women with elevated blood pressure during pregnancy are at higher risk of hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease later in life. Sabour and colleagues evaluated 491 healthy postmenopausal women selected from participants enrolled in the PROSPECT (Predictors of Response to Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy) study from 1993?1997. Women with a history of gestational hypertension had an almost 60% increased risk of having coronary calcification several decades later compared with women who had normal blood pressure during pregnancy. The relationship held for women who had mild elevations in blood pressure during pregnancy as well as for those who developed preeclampsia ? a more serious complication of pregnancy characterized by very high blood pressure, edema, and risk of organ damage.