Pregnancy outcomes of women with cardiac disease.

Objective: To determine and predict the maternal and neonatal outcomes of pregnancies occurring in patients with cardiac disease.

Method: This retrospective review included 147 pregnancies identified from antenatal, delivery, and nursery records. Information concerning the nature and severity of the pre-existing cardiac disease, comorbidities, risk scores, obstetric or cardiac complications, and pregnancy outcomes were collected. The data were analyzed using SPSS Windows version 22.

Results: In all, 111 (73.5%) of the cohort had acquired heart disease and 4 (2.7%) of patients belonged to WHO class IV, in which pregnancy is not recommended. Additionally, 12 (8.1%) were categorized as being at significant risk of having a cardiac complication. The proportion of patients that had maternal and perinatal mortality was 6 (4.0%) and 7 (4.8%), respectively. The WHO and CARPREG scoring systems were reliably able to predict cardiac events (P < 0.01). Mothers who received preconception counseling had significantly fewer occurrences of cardiac and obstetric events than those who did not.

Conclusion: Cardiac disease in pregnancy in women managed at our center was most often an acquired disease. The baseline risk assessment scores accurately predicted the likelihood of adverse cardiac outcomes.