Pregnant patients with heart disease can typically be managed medically, with surgical intervention rarely required.
May support medical management as primary approach in pregnant patients with heart disease; leaves open prospective studies on intervention thresholds.
Normal pregnancy causes physiologic changes that may mimic symptoms of heart disease, but organic heart disease does complicate about 1 percent of pregnancies. Once the physician has made his diagnosis, he usually can manage the pregnant cardiac patient medically. Surgical intervention, either to terminate the pregnancy or to correct the heart condition, is not often necessary.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Eugene L. Coodley (1970) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 3 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: