on behalf of the Cardiac Disease in Pregnancy (CARPREG) InvestigatorsBackground-The maternal and neonatal risks associated with pregnancy in women with heart disease receiving comprehensive prenatal care have not been well defined. Methods and Results-We prospectively enrolled 562 consecutive pregnant women with heart disease and determined the outcomes of 599 pregnancies not ending in miscarriage. Pulmonary edema, arrhythmia, stroke, or cardiac death complicated 13% of pregnancies. Prior cardiac events or arrhythmia, poor functional class or cyanosis, left heart obstruction, and left ventricular systolic dysfunction independently predicted maternal cardiac complications; the cardiac event rate can be predicted using a risk index incorporating these predictors. Neonatal complications (20% of pregnancies) were associated with poor functional class or cyanosis, left heart obstruction, anticoagulation, smoking, and multiple gestations. Conclusions-Pregnancy in women with heart disease is associated with significant cardiac and neonatal complications, despite state-of-the-art obstetric and cardiac care. Maternal cardiac risk can be predicted with the use of a risk index.

The nonpeptide GP IIb/IIIa antagonist lamifiban protected patients with unstable angina from severe ischemic events during a 3- to 5-day infusion and reduced the incidence of death and infarction at 1 month, suggesting considerable promise for this new therapeutic approach.

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