Background and Purpose—: Stroke is the leading cause of death in women and the third leading cause in men in France. In young adults (ie, <65 years old), an increase in the incidence of ischemic stroke was observed at a local scale between 1985 and 2011. After the implementation of the 2010 to 2014 National Stroke Action Plan, this study investigates national trends in patients hospitalized by stroke subtypes, in-hospital mortality, and stroke mortality between 2008 and 2014. Methods—: Hospitalization data were extracted from the French national hospital discharge databases and mortality data from the French national medical causes of death database. Time trends were tested using a Poisson regression model. Results—: From 2008 to 2014, the age-standardized rates of patients hospitalized for ischemic stroke increased by 14.3% in patients <65 years old and decreased by 1.5% in those aged ≥65 years. The rate of patients hospitalized for hemorrhagic stroke was stable (+2.0%), irrespective of age and sex. The proportion of patients hospitalized in stroke units substantially increased. In-hospital mortality decreased by 17.1% in patients with ischemic stroke. From 2008 to 2013, stroke mortality decreased, except for women between 45 and 64 years old and for people aged ≥85 years. Conclusions—: An increase in cardiovascular risk factors and improved stroke management may explain the increase in the rates of patients hospitalized for ischemic stroke. The decrease observed for in-hospital stroke mortality may be because of recent improvements in acute-phase management.

Aims : Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) are a leading cause of maternal and foetal morbidity and mortality. We aimed to estimate the impact of HDP on the onset of chronic hypertension in primiparous women in the first years following childbirth. Methods and results : This nationwide cohort study used data from the French National Health Data System (SNDS). All eligible primiparous women without pre-existing chronic hypertension who delivered between 2010 and 2018 were included. Women were followed up from six weeks post-partum until onset of hypertension, a cardiovascular event, death, or the study end date (31 December 2018). The main outcome was a diagnosis of chronic hypertension. We used Cox models to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) of chronic hypertension for all types of HDP. Overall, 2 663 573 women were included with a mean follow-up time of 3.0 years. Among them, 180 063 (6.73%) had an HDP. Specifically 66 260 (2.16%) had pre-eclampsia (PE) and 113 803 (4.27%) had gestational hypertension (GH). Compared with women who had no HDP, the fully adjusted HRs of chronic hypertension were 6.03 [95% confidence interval (CI) 5.89–6.17] for GH, 8.10 (95% CI 7.88–8.33) for PE (all sorts), 12.95 (95% CI 12.29–13.65) for early PE, 9.90 (95% CI 9.53–10.28) for severe PE, and 13.17 (95% CI 12.74–13.60) for PE following GH. Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy exposure duration was an additional risk factor of chronic hypertension for all PE subgroups. Women with HDP consulted a general practitioner or cardiologist more frequently and earlier. Conclusion : Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy exposure greatly increased the risk of chronic hypertension in the first years following delivery.

Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) are one of the leading causes of maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality. We aimed to estimate the prevalence of each HDP in France and to study their associations. All pregnant women who delivered in France between 2010 and 2018 were included in a cohort and followed during their pregnancy and 6 weeks of postpartum. Each HDP occurring during the follow‐up was identified. Prevalence of each HDP and cumulative incidence by gestational age were estimated. Incidence rate ratio (IRR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for preeclampsia among women with preexisting or gestational hypertension (GH) were estimated using Poisson regression and adjusted for age were estimated. Between 2010 and 2018, 6 302 810 deliveries were included. HDP complicated 7.4% of pregnancies. Preeclampsia and GH complicated 2.0% and 4.2% of pregnancies, respectively. Most of preeclampsia cases occurred without a prior HDP. HELLP syndrome represented 10.4% of preeclampsia cases. Compared to nulliparous pregnancies without HDP prior preeclampsia, the age‐adjusted IRR of preeclampsia was 6.2 [95% CI: 6.1‐6.4] in nulliparous pregnancies with preexisting hypertension and 2.9 [95% CI: 2.8‐3.0] in nulliparous pregnancies with GH. In France, HDP occurred in 7.4% of all pregnancies. Women with preexisting chronic hypertension are at high risk to present preeclampsia during pregnancy. Preeclampsia complicated 2.0% of pregnancies in France. Tailoring management of women according to the HDP is a major challenge to avoid complications related to these disorders.

Background and Objectives Despite the potentially devastating effects of pregnancy-related stroke, few studies have examined its incidence by type of stroke. We aimed to study the nationwide incidence rates and recent temporal trends for all types of pregnancy-related stroke and to compare these incidences with stroke incidence in nonpregnant women. Methods We conducted a study of 6,297,698 women aged 15–49 years who gave birth in France between 2010 and 2018 with no history of stroke before pregnancy by collecting data from the French National Health Insurance Information System database. Poisson regression was used to estimate the incidence by types of strokes for the different pregnancy periods and the incidence rate ratio of stroke in pregnant vs nonpregnant French women. Results Among the 6,297,698 women, 1,261 (24.0 per 100,000 person-years) experienced a first ever stroke during, antepartum peripartum, or the first 6 weeks of postpartum. Of the pregnancy-related strokes, 42.9% were ischemic (IS), 41.9% were hemorrhagic (with similar proportion of intracerebral and subarachnoid hemorrhage), and 17.4% were cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT). Compared with nonpregnant women, incidence rates of stroke were similar during pregnancy for IS (adjusted incidence risk ratio [IRR] 0.9 [0.8–1.1]), slightly higher for all hemorrhagic strokes (IRR 1.4 [1.2–1.8]), and considerably increased for CVT (IRR 8.1 [6.5–10.1]). Pregnancy-related stroke incidence rose between 2010 and 2018 for IS and HS but was stable for CVT. Discussion The risk of pregnancy-related CVT was more than 8-fold higher than that observed in nonpregnant women. The incidence of pregnancy-related IS and HS is increasing over time, and efforts should be made for prevention considering treatable cardiovascular risk factors and hypertensive disorders in pregnant women.

Background: We aimed to evaluate the impact of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy occurrence, recurrence, onset time, and severity on mortality and on a wide range of cardiovascular outcomes in France. Methods and Results: CONCEPTION (Cohort of Cardiovascular Diseases in Pregnancy) is a French nationwide prospective cohort using data from the National Health Data System. We included all women in CONCEPTION with no history of a cardiovascular event who delivered in France for the first time between 2010 and 2018 (N=2 819 655). Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and cardiovascular outcomes during the study follow‐up were identified using algorithms combining International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision ( ICD‐10 ) coded diagnoses during hospitalization and purchases of medication between 2010 and 2021. We fitted Cox models with time‐varying exposure to assess the associations of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy with mortality and cardiovascular events. Women with gestational hypertension had a 1.25‐ to 2‐fold higher risk of stroke, acute coronary syndrome, peripheral arterial disease, pulmonary embolism, and chronic kidney disease, and a 2‐ to 4‐fold higher risk of rhythm and conduction disorder and heart failure. Women with preeclampsia had a 1.35‐ to 2‐fold higher risk of rhythm or conduction disorder and pulmonary embolism during follow‐up; a 2‐ to 4‐fold higher risk of stroke, acute coronary syndrome, and peripheral arterial disease; and a 7‐ to 9‐fold higher risk of heart failure and chronic kidney disease. They were 1.8 times more likely to die and 4.4 times more likely to die of cardiovascular causes. Conclusions: Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy drastically increase the risk of mortality, cardiovascular, and renal events early after pregnancy. Recurrent, severe, and early‐onset preeclampsia further increases this risk.

Background and Purpose: Because of the aging population, an increase in the prevalence of atrial fibrillation (AF) is currently observed, thus leading to a rise in AF-related ischemic stroke (IS). We analyzed the current prevalence of AF among patients with IS, their characteristics, and temporal trends from 2006 to 2017 in the population-based Dijon Stroke Registry. Methods: We used data from the Dijon Stroke Registry, an ongoing population-based study that records all cases of acute stroke among residents of the city of Dijon. All patients with IS between 2006 and 2017 were included. Previous AF was defined if it was mentioned in the medical file before stroke and newly diagnosed AF if it was diagnosed during the diagnostic workup of patients with acute stroke. Results: During the period 2014 to 2017, among the 796 patients with IS recorded in the Dijon Stroke Registry, 239 (30.0%) had AF, of whom 79 (9.9% of total patients with IS) had newly diagnosed AF, and 98 (12.3%) had previous AF treated with oral anticoagulants. Patients with IS with AF had more disabilities and a higher initial severity according to the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale compared with those without AF. The age-adjusted prevalence of AF in patients with IS increased between 2006 and 2017 (+9% per time period), with an important increase in men aged 65 to 74 years (+81%) and women aged ≥85 years (+24%), and a significant decrease in women aged 65 to 74 years (−39%). The use of oral anticoagulant treatment in previous AF patients increased between 2006 and 2009 and 2014 and 2017 (29.3% to 61.3%, P <0.0001). However, 37.5% of patients with previous AF and CHADS ₂ score ≥2 were not treated with OAC. Conclusions: The increase in AF prevalence in patients with IS could be related to a better diagnosis of this condition. The underuse of oral anticoagulation treatment was still observed.