Baseline characteristics of the study population
In this cohort, women (n = 78,170) with a mean (± SD) age of 30.7 ± 3.8
years were enrolled. Cases with fetal abnormalities (n = 105), renal
disease (n = 24), familial hyperlipidemia (n = 4), or diabetes mellitus
(n = 21) were excluded from the study. Finally, 78,016 cases were
recruited for further study. Based on the revised criteria for
hypertension definition, 11,869 cases were diagnosed as elevated blood
pressure, 18,470 cases were diagnosed as stage 1 hypertension, and 6,103
cases as stage 2 hypertension (Figure 1 ). All enrolled women
had a median maternal TG concentration of 1.25 mM (quartile 1, 0.98 and
quartile 3, 1.60 mM) and a median early pregnancy BMI of 20.70
kg/m2 (quartile 1, 19.23 and quartile 3, 22.60
kg/m2). Women with normal blood pressure tended to be
slightly younger, less overweight, and multiparous than cases with
elevated blood pressure, stage 1 and stage 2 hypertension. Other factors
such as educational background, residency status, and ethnicity also
contributed to the aberrant blood pressure profile (Table 1 ).