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As women with congenital heart disease (CHD) reach adulthood, they face decisions about childbearing and must weigh its risks to mother and child. In a review of 48 studies published since 1985, investigators evaluated the outcomes of approximately 2500 pregnancies in women with all types of CHD.
Miscarriages occurred in 30% to 40% of pregnant women who had pulmonary atresia with ventricular septal defects (PAVSDs), Fontan-repaired conditions (characterized by a single functional ventricle), and cyanotic heart disease, but in fewer than 20% of women with other conditions. (For reference, the general U.S. miscarriage rate is approximately 8%.) Overall, fetal and perinatal mortality was 4%; however, among the offspring of women with Eisenmenge…