Preeclampsia and the risk of cataract extraction in life

Pregnancy-related risk factors for cataract are understudied, including the possibility that preeclampsia increases the risk of cataract later in life.

We sought to evaluate the long-term risk of cataract extraction following a preeclamptic pregnancy.

We carried out a historic cohort study of 1,108,541 women who delivered at least 1 infant in any hospital in the province of Quebec, Canada, from 1989 through 2013, including 64,350 with preeclampsia and 5732 with cataract extractions. We categorized preeclampsia by onset time and severity, and followed up women for up to 25 years after delivery. We calculated the incidence of inpatient cataract extraction for women with and without preeclampsia, and used Cox proportional hazard models to estimate hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals for later risk of cataract extraction, adjusting for age at first delivery, total parity, metabolic disease, asthma, socioeconomic deprivation, and time period.

Women with preeclampsia had a higher incidence of cataract extraction compared with no preeclampsia (21.0 vs 15.9/1000) and 1.20 times the risk (95% confidence interval, 1.08-1.34). Women with early-onset preeclampsia had 1.51 times the risk of cataract extraction compared with no preeclampsia (95% confidence interval, 1.14-2.00), whereas women with late-onset preeclampsia had 1.16 times the risk (95% confidence interval, 1.04-1.30). Risk was elevated by about 20% for both severe and mild preeclampsia. Preeclampsia with diabetes was associated with significantly greater risk (hazard ratio, 4.32; 95% confidence interval, 3.60-5.19).

Women with preeclampsia, particularly preeclampsia of early onset or with diabetes, may have greater risk of cataract later in life. The underlying pathways linking preeclampsia with cataract require further investigation.