Sequential use of thrombolytic agents for thrombosed mitral valve prosthesis during pregnancy

Thrombolytic therapy has gained popularity as an alternative to surgery in the treatment of prosthetic heart valve thrombosis. We report on the sequential use of streptokinase followed by recombinant tissue type plasminogen activator (rt-PA) for the treatment of a thrombosed prosthetic mitral valve in a pregnant woman at 26 weeks of gestation. Although thrombolysis was unsuccessful, the patient carried till 34 weeks of gestation and delivered by cesarean section a live newborn with an uneventful postpartum course. Based on our case and on what has been previously described in the literature, thrombolytic therapy should be considered as an option in the management of hemodynamically unstable pregnant patients with prosthetic valve thrombosis. When a single agent proves insufficient, combination therapy should be considered as it might provide hemodynamic stability and improvement in cardiac function that would allow patients at a high surgical risk to carry their pregnancy to viability.