Choosing a Valve Prosthesis for a Successful Pregnancy. The "Tip of the Iceberg" for a Disease of Complex Evolution.

Background: The choice of valve prosthesis in women planning a pregnancy is still controversial. The durability of biological prostheses and the characteristic thrombogenic of mechanical prostheses are limitations to the pregnancy's successful Objectives: To study the pregnancy success rate after valve prosthesis implantation, and identify the variables related to maternal outcomes.

Methods: Prospective study with 78 pregnant women with bovine pericardial prosthesis (Group BP) and 50 with a mechanical prosthesis (Group MP), who received prior guidance on the risks of pregnancy.

COVID-19, congenital heart disease, and pregnancy: dramatic conjunction-case report.

Background: Epidemiological data from the COVID-19 pandemic report that patients with pre-existing cardiovascular disease have worse outcomes and higher mortality, and that pregnant women should be considered at high risk.

Case Summary: A 25-year-old pregnant woman on the waiting list for a heart transplant, with a history of complete atrioventricular canal surgery, mitral mechanical prosthetic implant (St Jude-27), and cardiac resynchronization therapy (Boston Scientific) was hospitalized at 30 weeks of gestation for treatment of heart failure. After 7 days of hospitalization, she had a positive RT-PCR test for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 with progressive worsening of her clinical condition and acute foetal distress.

Pregnancy in Women with Complex Congenital Heart Disease. A Constant Challenge.

Background: The improvement in surgical techniques has contributed to an increasing number of childbearing women with complex congenital heart disease (CCC). However, adequate counseling about pregnancy in this situation is uncertain, due to a wide variety of residual cardiac lesions.

Objectives: To evaluate fetal and maternal outcomes in pregnant women with CCC and to analyze the predictive variables of prognosis.

Heart disease and pregnancy: State of the art.

The association between heart disease and pregnancy is increasingly prevalent. Although most women with heart disease tolerate the physiological changes of pregnancy, there are heart conditions that manifest for the first time during pregnancy and others that totally contraindicate a pregnancy. It is therefore important to establish multidisciplinary teams dedicated to the management of women with heart disease who intend to become, or who already are, pregnant.

Patient Management with Metallic Valve Prosthesis during Pregnancy and Postpartum Period.

Prosthetic thrombosis is a rare complication, but it has high mortality and morbidity. Young women of childbearing age that have prosthetic heart valves are at increased risk of thrombosis during pregnancy due to changes in coagulation factors. Anticoagulation with adequate control and frequent follow-up if pregnancy occurs must be performed in order to prevent complications related to anticoagulant use.

Periodontal disease in pregnant patients with rheumatic valvular disease: clinical and microbiological study.

Background: The periodontal disease during pregnancy of women with rheumatic valve disease imply infective endocarditis risks and higher rate of preterm birth and low birth weight.

Objective: To study the periodontal disease rate of women with rheumatic valve disease during pregnancy.

Methods: We studied 140 pregnant women who included 70 patients with rheumatic valve disease and 70 healthy women.

Aortic valvuloplasty with balloon catheter in maternal-fetal emergency in adolescence.

The increase of cardiac output during pregnancy is the cause of heart failure in women with severe aortic valvular stenosis. Percutaneous aortic valvuloplasty has been associated with severe complications and short-term valvar restenosis. This case showed that percutaneous aortic valvuloplasty allowed both mother and fetus to survive after childbirth, and that postpartum treatment interruption resulted in maternal death in late postpartum care.

Maternal-fetal monitoring during dental procedure in patients with heart valve disease.

Background: The effects of local dental anesthesia with lidocaine and epinephrine on cardiovascular parameters of pregnant women with heart valve diseases and their fetuses are not fully understood.

Objectives: To assess and analyze cardiotocographic, blood pressure and electrocardiographic parameters of pregnant women with rheumatic heart valve disease undergoing local anesthesia with 1.8mL of lidocaine 2% with or without epinephrine 1:100,000 during restorative dental treatment.