Ventricular tachycardia and pregnancy

Abstract

The risk of developing new-onset arrhythmia or exacerbation of a pre-existing arrhythmia is increased during pregnancy because of profound physiological and hormonal changes. The incidence of arrhythmias in pregnancy is not well-reported and especially data on ventricular arrhythmia are scarce. Arrhythmia during pregnancy is associated with adverse maternal and fetal outcomes and the optimization of clinical management is hindered by a paucity of evidence, as guidelines are either based on studies in the general population or on case series in pregnancy. In any case, optimal care for these patients includes a multidisciplinary approach, integrating the different considerations in maternal cardiac, obstetric and fetal health. In this manuscript we present three cases of ventricular arrhythmia during pregnancy and describe our considerations in clinical decision-making with regard to diagnostic challenges and treatment choices.

Keywords

• Ventricular tachycardia
• Pregnancy
• Arrhythmia
• Maternal-fetal health
• Clinical management