Preterm Birth Linked with Poor Heart Health in the Future

Premature babies usually have higher health risks than babies who are born after a full-term pregnancy. A new study suggests that these babies have higher risks of heart problems later in life.

Preterm babies are at higher risk of learning disabilities, cerebral palsy, problems associated with breathing, vision and hearing loss and digestive problems, according to the National Institutes of Health.

In the current study, researchers followed 102 preterm babies from birth into their 20's and compared their health records with 132 people who were born after a full pregnancy.

"Up to 10 percent of today's young adults were born prematurely and some have an altered higher cardiovascular risk profile in adult life.  We wanted to understand why this occurs so that we can identify the small group of patients born premature who may need advice from their healthcare provider about this cardiovascular risk. The changes we have found in the right ventricle are quite distinct and intriguing," said Professor Paul Leeson, Cardiologist at the University of Oxford's Cardiovascular Clinical Research Facility in England and one of the study authors.

Researchers found that the right ventricle in preterm babies or the right lower heart chamber was smaller than the right ventricle in full-term babies and was even heavier that led to lesser pumping capacity.

Note that preterm birth in the study was defined as birth that occurred before 37 weeks of pregnancy.

Researchers also found that babies born too early had poor functioning right ventricle.

"We are trying to dig deeper into what's different about the hearts of those born preterm.  The potential scientific explanations for why their hearts are different are fascinating and our study adds to the growing understanding of how premature birth shapes future heart health," said Adam Lewandowski, first author of the study, according to a news release. 

Some 15 million babies are born preterm every year, and the numbers are rising, says the World Health Organization. India, Nigeria and the U.S. top the list of countries that have maximum numbers of preterm births.

The study was published in the journal Circulation.