Women who develop pre-eclampsia face an increased risk of cardiovascular disease long after they give birth, an Australian research review concludes.

In the study, about one in five (19%) of women with a history of pre-eclampsia developed diastolic dysfunction, compared with one in 20 (5%) women with uncomplicated pregnancies.

Around 25% of women with a history of pre-eclampsia went on to develop heart failure within 4-10 years of giving birth, compared with 7% of women with uncomplicated pregnancies, the researchers noted in the Australasian Journal of Ultrasound Medicine.

“This review demonstrates that the cardiac dysfunction associated with previous pre-eclampsia is quantifiable and persistent,” they wrote.