Serious Cardiac Events in Pregnant Women with Heart Disease Often May Be Preventable

Pregnant women with preexisting heart disease are at risk for peripartum development of a serious cardiac event (SCE). Canadian researchers analyzed data on adverse cardiac and obstetric events up to 6 months postpartum in a prospective cohort of pregnant women with heart disease who received care between 2004 and 2014. SCEs (cardiac death or arrest, serious arrhythmias, congestive heart failure, aortic dissection, myocardial infarction, cerebrovascular events, mechanical valve thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, endocarditis, or need for an urgent cardiac intervention) were considered preventable if they arose from deviations in recommended standards of care.

SCEs occurred in 47 of 1315 pregnancies (3.6%); of these SCEs, 23 (49%) were considere…