ABSTRACT
Major hemodynamic alterations in the cardiovascular system occur during normal pregnancy, labor, and delivery. A clinically relevant tool to assess the risk would be to use Cardiac Disease in Pregnancy risk index. Ostium secundum atrial septal defect (ASD) is the most common congenital cardiovascular defect seen in pregnancy. A small proportion of patients with an ASD may develop Eisenmenger syndrome and should be considered as high-risk pregnancy. With improved pediatric surgical techniques, most patients with a patent ductus arteriosus are surgically corrected during infancy and childhood, so it is a rare finding in pregnancy. Pregnancy can usually be successfully carried to term in all but the most severe cases of aortic stenosis; reported maternal mortality in severe aortic stenosis is 17%. Coronary artery disease is rare in women of childbearing years, and there are only a few reports of pregnancies in women who have sustained myocardial infarctions prior to pregnancy.
