Evidence Hub

A nationwide register-based cohort study examined the association between preeclampsia in mothers and the risk of kidney disease in their offspring

I. Lihme, S. Basit, F. Lihme, M. Damholt, S. Hjorth, E. A. Nohr, Heather A. Boyd

Kidney International, 2025

37,782 participants · 18 citations

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Women with preeclampsia often deliver preterm (under37 weeks gestation). Preterm birth is associated with an increased risk of offspring kidney disease, but whether preeclampsia is independently associated with kidney disease risk is unknown. Here, we conducted a register-based cohort study to explore associations between maternal preeclampsia and offspring kidney disease after accounting for preterm birth.

METHODS

Using Cox regression, we estimated hazard ratios (HRs) comparing kidney disease rates, overall and by subtype, in offspring with and without exposure to maternal preeclampsia.

RESULTS

The study included 2,288,589 persons born in Denmark 1978-2017 of whom 63,191 were exposed to preeclampsia; 37,782 individuals developed kidney disease during 43,137,193 person-years of follow-up. Offspring exposed to preeclampsia and born at term (37 or more weeks' gestation) were 26% more likely than offspring born at term but not exposed to preeclampsia to develop kidney disease in infancy (HR 1.26, 95% confidence interval [1.09-1.46]), and had increased rates of all kidney disease subtypes except acute kidney disease after one year of age (HR range 1.11 to 1.88). Associations between term preeclampsia and offspring chronic, and unspecified and diabetic kidney disease were strongest after 25 years of age (HRs 1.36, 1.70 and 2.85, respectively). Conversely, there was little evidence that exposure to preeclampsia with preterm delivery was associated with increased rates…

How strong is the evidence?

Evidence Hub reads this as a cohort study, done in people. Its evidence level is 3 of 5 (Moderate · trial / cohort / secondary analysis). Trials without a large randomized design, cohorts and secondary analyses give moderate evidence. Reported size: 37,782 participants or records.

How the five levels of evidence work. The level is assigned automatically from the abstract and can be wrong, so check the paper.

Read the paper

Related studies

Go deeper in Evidence Hub

Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.

Open this study Sign up free