Patient profi le of a tertiary obstetric-cardiac clinic

Abstract

relatively fixed combination of factors, can often surprise one. Gestational age at presentation, the unique combination of maternal functional status at a given gestation coupled with the severity of cardiac disease and the known natural course Results: There were 231 women, rheumatic heart disease (n=79; 34.2%) was the predominant cardiac disease followed by congenital heart disease (n=78; 33.8%), medical conditions (n=38; 16.4%) and previous peripartum cardiomyopathy (n=9; 3.9%). Eighty-two women (35.5%) were perceived to be extremely high risk and their entire pregnancies were managed in the Obstetric-Cardiac clinic. The most common RHD lesion was mitral regurgitation (34.2%) and mixed mitral valve disease (24.1%). The most frequent CHD was ventricular septal defects (n=27; 35%). Conclusions: The cardiac disease profi le of patients seen at this obstetric-cardiac clinic in a South African tertiary hospital refl ects a transition from the disease profi le of a typical developing country (high burden of rheumatic heart disease) to the disease profi le seen in a more developed country (high burden of congenital heart disease). This could indicate improved quality of socio-economic development and the health care system. The increasing complexity of cardiac pathology that has to be dealt with in pregnant patients presenting to a tertiary hospital requires close collaboration between the obstetrician, cardiologist, cardiac surgeon and anesthetist caring for these patients. A dedicated obstetric-cardiac clinic is a good model to utilise in a tertiary hospital when aiming to optimise the care of patients with cardiac disease in pregnancy.

Obstetric predictors of hypertension: A cross-sectional study of women attending the postnatal clinic of Jos University Teaching Hospital

“…As stated by van der Merwe et al .,12 waiting times for response from the cardiologist to whom a pregnant woman with suspected cardiac morbidity encumbers ANC and result in poor outcomes. Driven by the mantra that “Attention to prevention is a sign of civilization,” this study used the opportunity presented by the 6 weeks PNC to determine what could be described as candidate predictors of hypertension during ANC.…”