Maternal cardiomyopathy may be associated with adverse perinatal outcomes

A new study conducted by Elizabeth Eggleton and team found that there is a high chance of unfavorable perinatal outcomes in pregnancies impacted by maternal cardiomyopathy. The findings of this study were published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Heart disease prevalence in pregnancy ranges from 0.3 to 5%. The circulatory alterations that occur during pregnancy in the context of maternal cardiac disease may cause decompensation or death of the mother or fetus. Few prospective studies that specifically addressed cardiac disease in pregnancy and looked at the populations treated at various institutions across the nation are currently available in India. In order to comprehensively evaluate the perinatal outcomes of pregnancies affected by maternal cardiomyopathy, this research was carried out.

From the beginning through August 25th, 2022, PubMed, Ovid EMBASE, Ovid Medline, Cochrane Library, and Clinicaltrials.gov were all thoroughly searched for this study. Pregnant women with cardiomyopathy (of any subtype) and an acceptable control group were included in observational cohort, case-control, and case-cohort studies in human populations if they reported pre-defined perinatal outcomes. Two reviewers separately evaluated each paper for eligibility and bias risk, while a third reviewer arbitrated any disputes. In accordance with PRISMA/MOOSE recommendations, data were extracted and synthesized.

The key findings of this study were:

1. Pregnancies from 13 studies (n = 2,291,024) were eligible for inclusion. Compared to I women with no cardiac illness and (ii) women with other types of cardiac disease, neonates born to mothers with cardiomyopathy had a higher risk of perinatal mortality.

2. Maternal cardiomyopathy dramatically increased the likelihood of preterm delivery and small-for-gestational-age neonates, two main causes of short- and long-term morbidity, during pregnancy when compared to other types of cardiac illness.

In conclusion, if a woman with cardiomyopathy decides to become pregnant, she should receive thorough counseling about the dangers involved and have her pregnancy treated by skilled multidisciplinary teams that can offer close fetal monitoring and neonatology knowledge.

Reference:

Eggleton, E. J., Mcmurrugh, K. J., & Aiken, C. E. (2022). Perinatal outcomes in pregnancies complicated by maternal cardiomyopathy: A systematic review and meta-analysis. In American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Elsevier BV. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajog.2022.09.025