The link between preterm birth and long-term cardiovascular risk: mechanisms, evidence, and vulnerable populations: a review
Preterm birth, defined as delivery before 37 weeks of gestation, represents a global health concern linked to substantial cardiovascular risk later in life. Individuals born preterm, especially at earlier gestational ages, exhibit increased rates of hypertension, heart failure, and ischemic heart di...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Open Exploration Publishing Inc.
2025-04-01
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| Series: | Exploration of Cardiology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.explorationpub.com/uploads/Article/A101253/101253.pdf |
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| author | Luisiana Stolfi Marco Fabio Costantino Francesca Cortese Gianpaolo D’Addeo Simona Pesce |
| author_facet | Luisiana Stolfi Marco Fabio Costantino Francesca Cortese Gianpaolo D’Addeo Simona Pesce |
| author_sort | Luisiana Stolfi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Preterm birth, defined as delivery before 37 weeks of gestation, represents a global health concern linked to substantial cardiovascular risk later in life. Individuals born preterm, especially at earlier gestational ages, exhibit increased rates of hypertension, heart failure, and ischemic heart disease. The underlying mechanisms include disrupted fetal programming, impaired vascular remodeling, chronic neonatal inflammation, neuroendocrine immaturity, and epigenetic alterations. This review synthesizes current epidemiological evidence from large cohort studies and meta-analyses, integrating mechanistic insights from developmental biology. We discuss distinct prematurity categories—extremely preterm (< 28 weeks), very preterm (28–32 weeks), and moderate to late preterm (33–37 weeks)—highlighting their association with graded cardiovascular risk. Recent findings emphasize the role of non-transmitted parental genes and prenatal environmental toxic metal exposure as additional critical factors influencing fetal cardiovascular programming. A total of 57 articles, identified through a systematic search of PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane databases, were included to address these topics comprehensively. Early identification of preterm-born individuals as a high-risk cardiovascular group is essential for targeted screening, prevention, and interventions from childhood into adulthood. Future studies leveraging multi-omics and epigenetic approaches will further clarify these mechanisms, informing evidence-based guidelines to reduce cardiovascular morbidity associated with preterm birth. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-65904d10212e4ab684939ff74248ee5f |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2994-5526 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | Open Exploration Publishing Inc. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Exploration of Cardiology |
| spelling | doaj-art-65904d10212e4ab684939ff74248ee5f2025-08-20T03:50:32ZengOpen Exploration Publishing Inc.Exploration of Cardiology2994-55262025-04-01310125310.37349/ec.2025.101253The link between preterm birth and long-term cardiovascular risk: mechanisms, evidence, and vulnerable populations: a reviewLuisiana Stolfi0https://orcid.org/0009-0001-1445-6979Marco Fabio Costantino1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6017-020XFrancesca Cortese2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6899-3366Gianpaolo D’Addeo3Simona Pesce4Cardiovascular Department, “San Carlo” Hospital, 85100 Potenza, ItalyCardiovascular Department, “San Carlo” Hospital, 85100 Potenza, ItalyCardiology Unit, “Madonna delle Grazie” Hospital, 75100 Matera, ItalyCardiovascular Department, “San Carlo” Hospital, 85100 Potenza, ItalyNeonatology and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, “San Carlo” Hospital, 85100 Potenza, ItalyPreterm birth, defined as delivery before 37 weeks of gestation, represents a global health concern linked to substantial cardiovascular risk later in life. Individuals born preterm, especially at earlier gestational ages, exhibit increased rates of hypertension, heart failure, and ischemic heart disease. The underlying mechanisms include disrupted fetal programming, impaired vascular remodeling, chronic neonatal inflammation, neuroendocrine immaturity, and epigenetic alterations. This review synthesizes current epidemiological evidence from large cohort studies and meta-analyses, integrating mechanistic insights from developmental biology. We discuss distinct prematurity categories—extremely preterm (< 28 weeks), very preterm (28–32 weeks), and moderate to late preterm (33–37 weeks)—highlighting their association with graded cardiovascular risk. Recent findings emphasize the role of non-transmitted parental genes and prenatal environmental toxic metal exposure as additional critical factors influencing fetal cardiovascular programming. A total of 57 articles, identified through a systematic search of PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane databases, were included to address these topics comprehensively. Early identification of preterm-born individuals as a high-risk cardiovascular group is essential for targeted screening, prevention, and interventions from childhood into adulthood. Future studies leveraging multi-omics and epigenetic approaches will further clarify these mechanisms, informing evidence-based guidelines to reduce cardiovascular morbidity associated with preterm birth.https://www.explorationpub.com/uploads/Article/A101253/101253.pdfpreterm birthcardiovascular riskfetal programminghypertensionheart failureinflammationepigeneticsvulnerable populations |
| spellingShingle | Luisiana Stolfi Marco Fabio Costantino Francesca Cortese Gianpaolo D’Addeo Simona Pesce The link between preterm birth and long-term cardiovascular risk: mechanisms, evidence, and vulnerable populations: a review Exploration of Cardiology preterm birth cardiovascular risk fetal programming hypertension heart failure inflammation epigenetics vulnerable populations |
| title | The link between preterm birth and long-term cardiovascular risk: mechanisms, evidence, and vulnerable populations: a review |
| title_full | The link between preterm birth and long-term cardiovascular risk: mechanisms, evidence, and vulnerable populations: a review |
| title_fullStr | The link between preterm birth and long-term cardiovascular risk: mechanisms, evidence, and vulnerable populations: a review |
| title_full_unstemmed | The link between preterm birth and long-term cardiovascular risk: mechanisms, evidence, and vulnerable populations: a review |
| title_short | The link between preterm birth and long-term cardiovascular risk: mechanisms, evidence, and vulnerable populations: a review |
| title_sort | link between preterm birth and long term cardiovascular risk mechanisms evidence and vulnerable populations a review |
| topic | preterm birth cardiovascular risk fetal programming hypertension heart failure inflammation epigenetics vulnerable populations |
| url | https://www.explorationpub.com/uploads/Article/A101253/101253.pdf |
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