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Gazzetta Medica Italiana Archivio per le Scienze Mediche 2006 August;165(4):149-57

Copyright © 2006 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: Italian

Pregnancy and cardiac surgery

Hatziveis K. ¹, Debeghioti F. ¹, Kouysodimitropoulou A. ¹, Georgiopoulos A. ¹, Hountis P. ²

¹ Departement of Obstetrics and Gynecology, General Hospital of Kalamata, Greece; ² Departement of Cardiac Surgery, Naval Hospital of Athens, Greece

It has been noted that during the pregnancy many hormonal and emodynamic changes happens in the woman. All these changes to a healthy woman doesn’t create problems and the pregnancy can be successfully completed. But what happens when in some pregnant women exists a kind of cardiac disease? In this case is attainable to complete the pregnancy? In the last years the medical community made serious efforts to resolve the above problems by using not only medication but also practicing surgical operations. The role of surgery during pregnancy is controversial and the success of surgery can be different according to the different stages of the pregnancy and the severity of the disease. The most common and safe practice to solve these problems is either to complete the labor when the cardiac disease can be confronted or to terminate the pregnancy when the cardiac problem is severe. Otherwise the use of contraceptives is necessary to avoid a high risk pregnancy. The purpose of our review is to register the various types of cardiovascular operations and also the cardiac diseases who can be appeared in the pregnant woman. Particular reference has be done to the extracorporeal circulation, which is necessary for the successful complication of the operation. From 1959 when the first cardiovascular operation has been effectuated till today the main question remains the contemporaneous survival of the mother and the fetus.