Increased risk of cardiovascular disease in young women following gestational diabetes

Objective — To determine whether women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) following pregnancy.

Research Design and Methods — All women aged 20–49 years with live births between April 1994 and March 1997 in Ontario, Canada, were identified. Women with GDM were matched with 10 women without GDM and were followed for CVD.

Results — The matched cohorts included 8,191 women with GDM and 81,262 women without GDM. Mean age at entry was 31 years, and median follow-up was 11.5 years. The hazard ratio for CVD events was 1.71 (95% CI 1.08–2.69). After adjustment for subsequent type 2 diabetes, the hazard ratio was attenuated (1.13 [95% CI 0.67–1.89]).

Conclusions — Young women with GDM had a substantially increased risk for CVD compared with women without GDM. Much of this increased risk was attributable to subsequent development of type 2 diabetes.