• P Ntlemo, T Cronje, and P Soma-Pillay.
• Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria and Steve Biko Academic Hospital, Pretoria, South Africa. drpntlemo@hotmail.com.
• S. Afr. Med. J. 2021 Mar 31; 111 (4): 350-354.

BackgroundThe association between pre-eclampsia and the subsequent development of metabolic syndrome has not been well documented in low- and middle-income countries.ObjectivesTo compare the prevalence of metabolic syndrome at 6 weeks after delivery among women with pregnancies complicated by pre-eclampsia with that in a normotensive, low-risk control group in an urban South African (SA) setting.MethodsThis was a prospective cohort study at two tertiary-level hospitals and one district-level hospital in Pretoria, SA. Women were recruited after delivery and were followed up 6 weeks later to confirm or exclude the diagnosis of metabolic syndrome.ResultsMetabolic syndrome was diagnosed in 48/150 women with pregnancies complicated by pre-eclampsia (32.0%), compared with 33/150 (22.0%) of the control group (p=0.05).ConclusionsWomen who developed pre-eclampsia during pregnancy had an increased chance of metabolic syndrome being diagnosed 6 weeks after delivery. Guidelines should be developed to identify women with cardiometabolic risk, so that interventions may be implemented to modify this risk before and after pregnancy.

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