title: [Pregnancy and heart disease].
abstract: Pregnancy and delivery are associated with substantial physiological changes that require adaptations in the cardiovascular system. These changes, well-tolerated in pregnant women without heart disease, expose woman with cardiovascular disease to serious risk. In fact, heart disease is the most frequent cause of maternal death, after psychiatric disorders, and the number of pregnant women with heart disease is expected to grow in the coming years. Preventing cardiovascular complications should be the main aim of every cardiologist involved in managing pregnant woman with congenital or acquired heart disease. Unfortunately, there is a lack of data which would help in the management of these patients during pregnancy and the clinical practice guidelines are often based on assumptions regarding how a specific substrate is going to respond to the physiological changes occurring due to pregnancy.
authors.affiliation: Spanish Society of Cardiology, Royal Brompton Hospital, Londres, Reino Unido. A.Pijuan@rbht.nhs.uk
authors.forename: Antonia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pijuan Domènech
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Gatzoulis
mesh_terms: D002317:Cardiovascular Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D006334:Heart Function Tests; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D011249:Pregnancy Complications, Cardiovascular / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D002317:Cardiovascular Agents