title: Pregnancy and Thoracic Aortic Disease: Managing the Risks.
abstract: The most common aortopathies in women of childbearing age are bicuspid aortic valve, coarctation of the aorta, Marfan syndrome, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, Loeys-Dietz syndrome, SMAD3 aortopathy, Turner syndrome, and familial thoracic aneurysm and dissection. The hemodynamic and hormonal changes of pregnancy increase the risk of progressive dilatation or dissection of the aorta in these women. The presence of hypertension increases the risk further. Therefore, appropriate preconception counselling is advised. For women who become pregnant, serial follow-up by a specialized multidisciplinary team throughout pregnancy and postpartum period is required. In this review we discuss risk assessment and management strategies for women with aortopathies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Medical Biochemistry, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Interuniversity Cardiology Institute of The Netherlands, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Shaynah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wanga
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Mount Sinai Hospital and University Health Network, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Department of Medicine, Montreal Heart Institute, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Candice
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Silversides
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Montreal Heart Institute, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Annie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dore
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biochemistry, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Vivian
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: de Waard
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Interuniversity Cardiology Institute of The Netherlands, Utrecht, The Netherlands. Electronic address: b.j.mulder@amc.uva.nl.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mulder
mesh_terms: D001013:Aorta, Thoracic; D001018:Aortic Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*; D019468:Disease Management; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D011249:Pregnancy Complications, Cardiovascular