BMJ  2005;331 (15 October), doi:10.1136/bmj.331.7521.0-b

Pre-eclampsia recurs across generations

Increased risk for pre-eclampsia is genetically transmitted from both mother and father. Studying a population based cohort, Skjærven and colleagues (p 877) examined almost 500 000 mother-offspring units and almost 300 000 father-offspring units from the Norwegian medical birth registry. Women born from pre-eclamptic pregnancies were more than twice as likely to develop pre-eclampsia themselves than other women, while the corresponding increased risk in pregnancies fathered by a man who was born from a pre-eclamptic pregnancy was 50%. Positive family history predicts more severe pre-eclampsia.

Credit: HENNY ALLIS/SPL

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Recurrence of pre-eclampsia across generations: exploring fetal and maternal genetic components in a population based cohort

Rolv Skjærven, Lars J Vatten, Allen J Wilcox, Thorbjørn Rønning, Lorentz M Irgens, and Rolv Terje Lie
BMJ 2005 331: 877. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]