Pregnancy and Open-Heart Surgery

Zitnik, Ralph S. M.D.
Brandenburg, R. O. M.D.
Sheldon, R. M.D.
Wallace, R. B. M.D.

From the Sections of Medicine, Obstetrics and Surgery, Mayo Clinic and Mayo Graduate School of Medicine, Rochester, Minnesota.

Circulation 39(5):p I257-I262, May 1969.

During pregnancy, when surgically reparable heart disease can no longer be medically manged, open- or closed-heart surgery is the procedure of choice without prior therapeutic abortion. Cyanotic congenital heart disease in a pregnant patient when completely correctable surgically may be an indication for surgery in itself.

Available data suggest that pregnancy per se does not increase the maternal risk of heart surgery with use of extracorporeal circulation. Fetal mortality in our series was 33%.