Cardiac Manifestations Of Obstetric Emergencies In Intensive Care Units

Abstract

Maternal mortality from the cardiovascular causes has declined progressively since the 1950s (Kirschbaum TH, 1994). Maternal mortality in the 1990s is less than I% in women with mild to moderate cardiac disease. The reasons for this decrease are multifactorial; (I) the decrease in rheumatic heart disease seen with the advent of antibiotics, (2) the availability of surgical correction for many serious congenital and acquired cardiac diseases, and (3) improved medical therapy for arrythmias, heart failure, e.t.c. The mortality rate for pregnant women with more severe cardiac pathology (New York Heart Association (NYHA) class III and IV) is higher and reported to be 5% to 15%, and fetal mortality approaches 30% in this population of women.