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Hypertension Explored in Long-term Postpartum Follow-up in Later Life

Recruiting
Conditions
Hypertension
Cardiovascular Diseases
Cerebrovascular Disorders
Vascular Diseases
Interventions
Other: Hypertensive pregnancy
Registration Number
NCT06187012
Lead Sponsor
University of Oxford
Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to understand more about why women who have had hypertensive pregnancies may be at increased risk of high blood pressure and why these women are often at increased risk of heart and blood vessel disease later in life.

Detailed Description

Women who experience high blood pressure during pregnancy are at increased risk of developing cardiac and vascular diseases later in life. They show changes in their heart, brain, and blood vessels long before they develop high blood pressure. The investigators therefore think that these changes develop slowly over the course of the life of the woman and establish their risk of later disease.

Through better understanding of the pattern of changes across multiple parts of the body over extended periods of time, the investigators aim to identify how advanced the underlying disease is for an individual and how the disease is likely to develop over the next few years. By comparing the rate of change across different parts of the body, the investigators can examine how one area affects another.

Data including images of the heart, brain and blood vessels will be acquired in women 10 to 25 years after their pregnancy. The initial analysis will focus on assessing differences between women who have had a normotensive pregnancy and those who have had a hypertensive pregnancy, both at a single timepoint and in changes within individuals over time.

This dataset will then be used in conjunction with previously acquired data in women who have experienced a hypertensive pregnancy to find out how patterns emerge across the whole body. The investigators will subsequently combine information from different measures at the same time and use the machine learning models to learn the patterns of change that occur as a person progresses from a healthy to a diseased state.

This will allow the researchers to identify patterns of hypertensive disease development and it may open doors to better interventions and therapies tailored towards individuals.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
RECRUITING
Sex
Female
Target Recruitment
200
Inclusion Criteria
  • Inclusion Criteria

    • Participant is willing and able to give informed consent for participation in the study
    • Female who had a pregnancy 10 to 25 years prior
    • Able (in the investigator's opinion) and willing to comply with all study requirements.
    • Adequate understanding of verbal and written English
Exclusion Criteria
  • The participant may not enter the study if ANY of the following apply:

    • Over 10 weeks pregnant during the course of the study
    • Evidence of congenital heart disease or significant chronic disease relevant to cardiovascular or metabolic status
    • Any significant disease or disorder which, in the opinion of the investigator, might influence the participant's ability to participate in the study

For exclusion of MRI component only:

• Unsuitable for MRI based on the responses to the MRI screening form. The participant may still be included in other parts of the study.

Study & Design

Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Study Design
Not specified
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Hypertensive pregnancyHypertensive pregnancy-
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Cardiac right ventricular massParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy. Index pregnancy is defined as the pregnancy which we first collected data from.

Magnetic resonance imaging assessment of cardiac right ventricular mass indexed to body surface area (g/m\^2).

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Cerebral vessel lumen diameterParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

Cerebral vessel lumen diameter (micrometres) assessed on the time-of-flight sequence of brain magnetic resonance imaging.

Cardiac right ventricular end-diastolic volumeParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

Magnetic resonance imaging assessment of cardiac right ventricular end-diastolic volume indexed to body surface area (ml/m\^2)

Cardiac left ventricular systolic functionParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

Echocardiography assessment of left ventricular systolic function

Cardiac left ventricular ejection fractionParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

Magnetic resonance imaging assessment of left ventricular ejection fraction (%).

Aortic distensibilityParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

Aortic distensibility by magnetic resonance imaging (10\^-3 mmHg-1).

Renal fibro-inflammatory statusParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

Magnetic resonance imaging assessment of fibro-inflammatory status from T1 (ms)

Retinal arteriolar-to venule diameter ratio (AVR)Participants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

The ratio of average retinal arteriolar diameter and average retinal venous diameter (micrometres).

Cardiac right ventricular stroke volume.Participants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

Magnetic resonance imaging assessment of cardiac right ventricular stroke volume indexed to body surface area (ml/m\^2).

Cardiac left ventricular massParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

Magnetic resonance imaging assessment of cardiac left ventricular mass indexed to body surface area (g/m\^2).

Cardiac left-ventricular end-diastolic volume.Participants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

Magnetic resonance imaging assessment of cardiac left ventricular end-diastolic volume indexed to body surface area (ml/m\^2).

Cardiac left ventricular stroke volumeParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

Magnetic resonance imaging assessment of cardiac left ventricular stroke volume indexed to body surface area (ml/m\^2).

Morphology of the right ventriclesParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

Magnetic resonance imaging assessment of the right ventricles morphology using cardiac statistical atlas and principal component analysis.

Morphology of the left ventriclesParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

Magnetic resonance imaging assessment of the left ventricles morphology using cardiac statistical atlas and principal component analysis.

Carbon dioxide exchange kinetics across submaximal exerciseParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

Cardiopulmonary exercise test to measure respiratory exchange ratio (RER) calculated as carbon dioxide production divided by oxygen consumption.

Retinal venular structureParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

Central retinal venular equivalent (micrometres) measured using retinal imaging.

Ear microvascular structure.Participants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

Superior crus of anti-helix earlobe vascular calibre (micrometres) measured using ear vascular imaging.

Lung capacityParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

The forced vital capacity (FVC in L) measured using spirometry.

Objective measure of vigorous physical activity.Participants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

The amount of vigorous physical activity (h/week) measured using wrist worn accelerometer.

Total white matter volumeParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

Total white matter volumes (mm3) assessed on T1-weighted sequence of brain magnetic resonance imaging.

White matter hyperintensities volumeParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

Total volume of white matter hyperintensities (mm3) assessed on T2-weighted sequence of brain magnetic resonance imaging.

Circulating total cholesterol as a metabolic markerParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

The level of total cholesterol (mmol/L) measured from serum blood samples.

Circulating high-density lipoprotein as a metabolic markerParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

The level of circulating high-density lipoprotein (mmol/L) measured from serum blood samples.

Cardiac right ventricular systolic functionParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

Echocardiography assessment of right ventricular systolic function: tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (cm).

Cardiac right ventricular ejection fractionParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

Magnetic resonance imaging assessment of right ventricular ejection fraction measured by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (%).

Cardiac right ventricular diastolic functionParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

Echocardiography assessment of right ventricular doppler early/late diastolic tricuspid inflow velocity ratio (E/A)

Cardiac left ventricular diastolic functionParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

Echocardiography assessment of left ventricular early doppler inflow velocity/peak early diastolic tissue velocity rate (E/e').

Aortic complianceParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

Aortic/central blood pressure by cuff measurement (mmHg).

Intra-hepatic liquid content and steatohepatitisParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

Magnetic resonance imaging assessment of the liver to quantify proton density fat fraction (%).

Hepatic fibrosisParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

Magnetic resonance imaging assessment of the liver to quantify fibro-inflammatory status from iron corrected T1 (cT1 in ms)

White matter hyperintensities countParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

Total number of white matter hyperintensities on T2-weighted sequence of brain magnetic resonance imaging.

Circulating low-density lipoprotein as a metabolic markerParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

The level of circulating low-density lipoprotein (mmol/L) measured from serum blood samples.

Circulating soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (slCAM-1) as an inflammatory markerParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

The level of sICAM-1 (ng/mL) measured from serum blood samples.

Circulating soluble vascular adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1) as an inflammatory markerParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

The level of sVCAM-1 (ng/mL) measured from serum blood samples.

Renal volumesParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

Magnetic resonance imaging assessment of renal volumes (ml/m\^2).

Renal blood perfusionParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

Magnetic resonance imaging assessment of surrogate measures of blood perfusion from T2\* (in ms).

Oxygen uptake across submaximal exerciseParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

Cardiopulmonary exercise test to measure oxygen uptake (ml/kg/min).

Retinal arteriolar structureParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

Central retinal arteriolar equivalent (CRAE) in micrometres measured using retinal imaging.

Objective measure of moderate to vigorous physical activity.Participants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

The amount of moderate to vigorous physical activity (h/week) measured using wrist worn accelerometer.

Total grey matter volumeParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

Total grey matter volumes (mm3) assessed on T1-weighted sequence of brain magnetic resonance imaging.

Subcortical brain volume of hippocampusParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

Subcortical brain volume of hippocampus (mm3) assessed on T1-weighted sequence of brain magnetic resonance imaging.

Cerebral vessel tortuosityParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

The ratio of cerebral vessel tortuosity assessed on the time-of-flight sequence of brain magnetic resonance imaging.

Whole brain grey matter perfusion or cerebral blood flow (CBF)Participants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

Whole brain grey matter perfusion/CBF (in ml/100g/min) assessed on arterial spin labelling of brain magnetic resonance imaging.

Arterial cerebral blood volume fractionParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

Arterial cerebral blood volume fraction (%) assessed on arterial spin labelling on brain magnetic resonance imaging.

Circulating vascular endothelial growth factor A as an angiogenic markerParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

The level of circulating vascular endothelial growth factor A (pg/mL) measured from plasma blood samples.

Circulating soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 as an angiogenic marker.Participants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

The level of circulating soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 measured from plasma blood samples.

Circulating fasting glucose concentration as a metabolic markerParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

The level of fasting glucose (mmol/L) measured from whole blood samples.

Body heightParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

Body height (m).

Diastolic blood pressureParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

Resting brachial blood pressure measurement (mmHg).

Heart rateParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

The frequency of the heart contractions per minute (bpm).

Lung functionParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

The ratio of FEV1 to FVC (FEV1/FVC) measured using spirometry.

Lung volumeParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

The forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1 in L) measured using spirometry.

Subcortical brain volume of thalamusParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

Subcortical brain volume of thalamus (mm3) assessed on T1-weighted sequence of brain magnetic resonance imaging.

Cerebral vessel densityParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

Cerebral vessel density (mm3) assessed on the time-of-flight sequence of brain magnetic resonance imaging.

Circulating soluble endoglin as an angiogenic marker.Participants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

The level of circulating soluble endoglin (ng/mL) measured from plasma blood samples.

Circulating triglycerides as a metabolic markerParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

The level of circulating triglycerides (mmol/L) measured from serum blood samples.

Circulating fasting insulin concentration as a metabolic markerParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

The level of fasting insulin (pmol/L) measured from serum blood samples.

Insulin resistance index as a metabolic markerParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

The index calculated as fasting glucose (mmol/L) x fasting insulin (ulU/mL)/22.5.

Body mass index (BMI)Participants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

Body weight divided by the square of height (kg/m2).

Systolic blood pressureParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

Resting brachial blood pressure measurement (mmHg).

Mean arterial pressure.Participants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

The average arterial pressure from resting brachial blood pressure measurement (mmHg).

Pulse pressureParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

The difference between systolic and diastolic blood pressure (mmHg).

Smoking statusParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

The number and percentage of current smokers.

Circulating C-reactive protein as an inflammatory marker.Participants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

The level of circulating C-reactive protein (mmol/L) measured from serum blood samples.

Waist-to-hip ratioParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

The ratio of waist circumference (cm) to hip circumference (cm).

Body weightParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

Body weight (kg)

Mid-arm circumferenceParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

Mid-arm circumference (cm).

Alcohol consumptionParticipants will be recruited at 10 to 25 years post index pregnancy and assessed up to 40 years post index pregnancy

Weekly alcoholic unit intake (units per week).

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

University of Oxford Department of Cardiovascular Medicine

🇬🇧

Oxford, United Kingdom

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