ABSTRACT
Pregnant women with known or suspected cardiovascular disease often require cardiovascular diagnostic testing during their pregnancy. Laboratory tests should be the initial screening modality in women presenting with chest pain and shortness of breath out of proportion to pregnancy. The chest radiograph is a commonly used diagnostic modality in pregnancy and it provides important information about the lungs, airways, blood vessels, and size of the heart and bones of the spine and chest. Indications for obtaining a chest radiograph in pregnancy are no different from those in nonpregnant patients and should be considered in any pregnant patient who presents with new-onset dyspnea to evaluate for pulmonary edema, cardiomegaly, and atrial enlargement. Nuclear studies that may be performed during pregnancy include pulmonary ventilation-perfusion scans that evaluate for pulmonary embolism, and myocardial perfusion images used to assess coronary artery disease and ventricular function.
