title: [Pulmonary hypertension and pregnancy].
abstract: A 36 year old woman, with an 18 year history of syncope, became pregnant shortly after a cardiac catheterization demonstrated a high pulmonary arterial pressure and resistance and a low cardiac output. During pregnancy she remained stable at NYHA FC III, on nifedipine, apresoline, isosorbide, aspirin and bed rest. At 28 weeks, catheterization showed a decreased pulmonary pressure and an increased cardiac output. At 38 weeks, she was submitted to an elective caesarean section, and delivered a healthy newborn of 2820 g. After 5 months, her catheterization showed a pulmonary artery pressure similar to the pre-pregnancy study. Her condition deteriorated, leading to death 10 months later. Urinary 6-keto-PGF1[symbol: see text], nitrates/nitrites, kallikrein and angiotensin-(1-7) were increased from 13 to 33 weeks, to drop in week 35 of pregnancy. The safe maternal and fetal outcome, and the intragestational hemodynamic improvement are attributed to a close multidisciplinary surveillance, and to the effects of the endogenous vasodilators of pregnancy on the reversible component of the pulmonary hypertension. Reports in the literature show a decrease in maternal mortality rate, from 56% for the period previous to 1963, to 34 and 30% for those spanning between 1978-1996 y 1997-2001 respectively.
authors.affiliation: Departamentos de Nefrología, Cardiología, Obstetricia/Ginecología, Centro de Investigaciones Médicas, Escuela de Medicina Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Servicios de Cardiología, Medicina Interna Hospital de la Fuerza Aérea de Chile.
authors.forename: Gloria
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Valdés
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Matthei
authors.forename: María Soledad
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Fernández
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schacht
authors.forename: Jenny
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Corthorn
authors.forename: Alfredo M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Germaín
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006976:Hypertension, Pulmonary / Q000188:drug therapy*; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D011249:Pregnancy Complications, Cardiovascular / Q000188:drug therapy*; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome
chemical_list: D000959:Antihypertensive Agents