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Whether stroke risk is elevated during pregnancy is controversial. U.K. investigators conducted a population-based, cohort and nested case-control study of deliveries in 229 hospitals October 2007 to March 2010 to estimate the incidence and define risk factors for antenatal stroke.
Nearly 2 million women delivered, with 30 confirmed cases of antenatal stroke (1.5 strokes per 100,000 deliveries). A higher proportion of these strokes were hemorrhagic (40%) than in the nonpregnant population (22%). The main risk factors associated with antenatal stroke were gestational diabetes (odds ratio, 26.8), history of migraine (OR, 8.5), and preeclampsia or eclampsia (OR, 7.7). After adjustment for age, stroke risk increased by 8% for every mm Hg increas…