PREGNANCY AND CONGENITAL HEART-DISEASE - MATERNAL AND FETAL-OUTCOME

Two hundred and seventy five pregnancies in patients with congenital h eart disease during 1980-1996 were analyzed retrospectively. Maternal and perinatal outcome was compared in 251 pregnancies of women with ac yanotic and 24 pregnancies of women with cyanotic heart disease. Conge nital heart disease was diagnosed during the index pregnancy in 26.1% of patients and the majority (88.4%) were in NYHA classes 1 and 2. Atr ial septal defect (27.7%) was the most common lesion in women with acy anotic heart disease and the majority with cyanotic heart disease had Eisenmenger syndrome, 13 of 21 (61.9%). Sixty pregnancies occurred in patients with surgically corrected lesions (acyanotic, 56; cyanotic, 4 ). The incidences of abortions (8.3%), stillbirths (13.6%) and small f or gestational age (SGA) (36.4%) were higher in cyanotic heart disease compared to acyanotic heart disease (stillbirth, 0.8%; SGA, 6.9%), Th ere was a statistically significant difference in mean maternal age, m ean gestational age and mean birth-weight in the surgically corrected and noncorrected lesions in both acyanotic and cyanotic heart disease. There was 1 maternal death in a woman with Eisenmenger syndrome.