Public Defence: Stine Fossum

Cand.med. Stine Fossum at Institute of Health and Society will be defending the thesis “Long-term cardiovascular risk in women with a history of hyperemesis gravidarum” for the degree of PhD (Philosophiae Doctor).

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Foto: Privat

Trial Lecture – time and place

See Trial Lecture.

Adjudication committee

  • First opponent: Professor Annika Rosengren, University of Gothenburg
  • Second opponent: Professor Roger Gadsby, University of Warwick
  • Third member and chair of the evaluation committee: Professor Anne Cathrine Staff, University of Oslo

Chair of the Defence

Professor Emeritus Dag Bruusgaard, University of Oslo

Principal Supervisor

Associate Professor Øyvind Næss, University of Oslo

Summary

Over the last decades, researchers and clinicians have gradually increased their focus on cardiovascular disease in women. Some pregnancy complications, like preeclampsia and placental abruption, are associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease long-term. Hyperemesis gravidarum is the most common cause of hospitalisation in first trimester of pregnancy and is characterised by extreme nausea and vomiting early in pregnancy. The condition has been associated with several cardiovascular risk factors. Whether women with a history of hyperemesis also have increased risk of cardiovascular disease long-term is not known.

The overall objective of this thesis was to assess the cardiovascular risk following hyperemesis, using large population-based data. To obtain information on midlife cardiovascular risk factors, cardiovascular events and long-term mortality in women with a history of hyperemesis, the Medical Birth Registry of Norway was linked to the Cause of Death Registry, a cardiovascular health screening program (the Age 40 Program) and hospital discharge data on cardiovascular disease.

Except for the lower proportion of daily smokers among hyperemetic women, there were modest differences between women with and without hyperemesis in terms of midlife cardiovascular risk factors. The differences in mean systolic blood pressure and BMI were probably clinically irrelevant. Moreover, there was no difference in risk of a fatal or nonfatal cardiovascular event according to hyperemesis status, but hyperemetic women had higher risk of being hospitalised due to angina pectoris. Women with hyperemesis had similar all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality as those without, but they had a reduced risk of dying from cancer.

Overall, this work found no clear evidence of increased cardiovascular risk following hyperemesis.

Additional information

Contact the research support staff.

 

 

Published Nov. 11, 2019 3:04 PM - Last modified Nov. 11, 2019 3:16 PM