Pregnancy‐associated stroke and the recurrence of stroke and other complications in subsequent pregnancies: Population‐based retrospective cohort study

OBJECTIVE: To examine the outcomes of the subsequent pregnancies from women with a previous pregnancy-associated stroke (PAS) in comparison to matched controls. DESIGN: Population-based retrospective cohort study. SETTING AND POPULATION: All women with a PAS in Finland 1987-2016 (n = 235) and controls (n = 694). METHODS: We identified all subsequent deliveries and induced and spontaneous abortions for women with a previous PAS and their matched controls from the Medical Birth Register and the Hospital Discharge Register until 2016. The number, course and outcomes of the subsequent pregnancies were compared. Patient records were studied for PAS recurrence. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: PAS recurrence and pregnancy complications. RESULTS: Women with a previous PAS had fewer subsequent deliveries: 73 (31.1%) women had 122 deliveries in all, whereas 303 (47.3%) of the controls had 442 deliveries (age-adjusted odds ratio [OR] 0.54, 95% CI 0.38-0.76). Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) (17.2% versus 5.7%, age-adjusted OR 4.0, 95% CI 1.7-9.3), especially chronic hypertension (age-adjusted OR 5.9, 95% CI 1.5-24.7), and any diabetes during pregnancy (24.6% versus 14.5%, age-adjusted OR 2.0, 95% CI 1.1-3.8) were more common in cases. Regarding HDP, the difference between groups was explained by underlying factors such as index pregnancy HDP (multivariable OR 2.4, 95% CI 0.8-6.7). PAS recurred in four cases (5.5%). CONCLUSIONS: Subsequent pregnancies of women with a history of PAS are more often complicated with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and any diabetes during pregnancy. PAS recurrence risk is considerable.