Pregnancy in a woman with a Fontan circulation: A review

Emily Moroney; Elske Posma; Alicia Dennis; Yves d'Udekem; Rachael Cordina; Dominica Zentner

doi:10.1177/1753495X17737680

Pregnancy in a woman with a Fontan circulation: A review

Obstet Med. 2018 Mar;11(1):6-11. doi: 10.1177/1753495X17737680. Epub 2017 Nov 22.

Authors

Emily Moroney^{1

2}, Elske Posma³, Alicia Dennis^{4

5

6}, Yves d'Udekem^{1

2

7}, Rachael Cordina^{8

9}, Dominica Zentner^{10

11}

Affiliations

¹ Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia.
² Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
³ Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, The Royal Women's Hospital, Victoria, Australia.
⁴ Department of Anaesthesia, The Royal Women's Hospital, Victoria, Australia.
⁵ Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
⁶ Department of Pharmacology, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
⁷ 7Department of Cardiac Surgery, Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
⁸ Department of Cardiology, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
⁹ Central Clinical School, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, Australia.
¹⁰ Department of Cardiology, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Victoria, Australia.
¹¹ Department of Medicine Royal Melbourne Hospital, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.

Abstract

More women with congenital heart disease survive to childbearing ages, due to improvements in surgical practice and postoperative care. This review discusses pregnancy in women with a single ventricle, describing maternal obstetric and cardiovascular complications and the increased risks of prematurity and adverse neonatal outcomes. Recommendations are made based on current understanding, guidelines and published literature, with recognition that there is much knowledge yet to be gained.

Keywords: Fontan circulation; Heart defects; arrhythmias; cardiac; congenital; heart failure; pregnancy complications.

Publication types

Review