International Journal of Medicine and Health Development (Jan 2004)
Hypertensive heart failure presenting in labour: A case report
Abstract
Peripartum heart disease is worldwide in distribution but appears most commonly in multiparous black women with a low socioeconomic background1. Hypertensive disorders associated with pregnancy can be classified into three groups:- Chronic, transient and pre-eclamptic hypertension2. Whereas chronic and transient hypertension do not affect the outcome of pregnancy appreciably, pre-eclampsia presents a potential danger to the mother and fetus. Cardiac failure among pregnant northern Nigerian Women has been reported to occur more frequently in the postnatal period3. Hypertensive cardiac failure has been seen in pregnant women in our practice, but none was seen in association with labour. In a series, only 1.13% of the women with heart disease developed heart failure during labour We report a fatal case of hypertensive heart failure in labour from our centre.
