Fetal growth and pregnancy complications among women with heart disease in Norway: a cohort study 

Cardiovascular disease has become the most important cause of maternal deaths in industrializes countries. Among women with heart disease there are also increased rate of fetal growth restriction, premature labor and preeclampsia. 

The first published study of the project, showed a high occurrence of HDP in a retrospective cohort of women with cardiovascular disease, and also that the risk of HDP increased with severity of cardiovascular disease. 

The next steps in the project are analyses and publications of results of prospective data from a clinical cohort of 170 pregnancies in women with cardiovascular disease. We have followed fetal growth and utero-placental-fetal blood flow longitudinally. The mother`s cardiac function was also measured. Primary outcome is fetal growth curve and wellbeing at birth. The same cohort was investigated by repeated blood tests for sFlt-1/PlGF-ratio during the last half of pregnancy. We want to see if angiogenetic factors can be used prognostic for the risk of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) in this risk group.

Increased knowledge on the risks of HDP and restricted fetal growth will hopefully improve the follow-up of pregnancies in women with cardiovascular disease. 

PhD candidate: Ingrid Langen, MD, Consultant OBGYN, Department of Obstetrics, Oslo University Hospital (OUS) Rikshospitalet

Main supervisor: Professor Ingvil Krarup Sørbye, Department of Obstetrics, OUS

Co-supervisors: Professor Guttorm Haugen, Mette-Elise Estensen, PhD, Head of National Unit for Pregnancy and Heart Disease, Department

Collaborators: 

Interdisciplinary team for heart disease in pregnancy at OUS Rikshospitalet:
Senior Consultant in anesthesiology Eldrid Langesæter
Senior Consultant in cardiology Vibeke Almaas
Midwife Siri Kløve 
Professor Siri Vangen, Head of the Norwegian Research Centre for Women's Health, OUS 
Professor Anne Cathrine Staff, Senior Consultant , Division of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, OUS Ullevål 
Gun Lisbet Opheim, PhD, MD
Nina Gunnes, MSc, PhD,

Publications: 

Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy among women with cardiovascular disease in Norway: A historical cohort study.
Langen I, Langesæter E, Gunnes N, Almaas VM, Haugen G, Estensen ME, Sørbye IK.Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 2024 Jul;103(7):1457-1465. doi: 10.1111/aogs.14841. Epub 2024 Apr 10.PMID: 38597240