Congenital heart disease during pregnancy

Abstract EN

Objectives : to study the maternal and fetal risks of pregnant women with congenital heart disease in our area at Prince Rashid Bin-Al-Hassan Hospital, Irbid-Jordan.

Methods : this is a prospective study of pregnancy outcome in 106 women with congenital heart disease delivered during a period of three years between August 2007 and July 2010 at Prince Rashid Bin-Al-Hassan Hospital, Irbid-Jordan.

Maternal and perinatal outcome and complications were evaluated for each patient.

Results : overall prevalence of pregnancy among women with congenital heart disease was 0.6 %.

Atrial septal defect was the commonest cardiac lesion diagnosed in our study 36.2 %, with ventricular septal defect present in 28.6 %.

The majority of our patients were in New York Heart Association class-I and II-95.3 %.

The most prevalent obstetric complications were hypertensive disorders (28.7 %).

Most women had spontaneous vaginal deliveries, although 25.7% women underwent caesarean sections.

The most prevalent neonatal complications were premature birth (9.9 %), intrauterine growth restriction (37.6 %), and perinatal mortality (2.97 %).

Conclusion : Although congenital heart disease is uncommon amongst pregnant women, these pregnancies need to be carefully managed in a tertiary care setting by a multidisciplinary team including a specialist obstetrician and cardiologist, to ensure good maternal and fetal outcome.