Maternal arrhythmia and perinatal outcomes

OBJECTIVE: To determine if arrhythmia in the setting of maternal cardiac disease (MCD) affects perinatal outcomes. STUDY DESIGN: This is a retrospective cohort study of pregnant women with MCD who delivered from 2008 to 2013. Perinatal outcomes among women with an arrhythmia were compared to those without. RESULT: Among 143 women; 36 (25%) had an arrhythmia. Those with an arrhythmia were more likely to have a spontaneous vaginal delivery (64% vs. 43%, p < 0.05) and required fewer operative vaginal births (8% vs. 27%, p=0.02). Pregnancies were more likely to be complicated by IUGR (17% vs. 5%, p < 0.05) although there were no differences in the rate of small for gestational age. The risk of IUGR remained increased after controlling for confounding (aOR 6.98, 95% CI 1.59–30.79, p=0.01). Two cases of placental abruption were identified among mothers with arrhythmia while none were identified in the controls (p < 0.05) CONCLUSION: Patients with arrhythmias were more likely to have a spontaneous vaginal delivery. Our data suggests that these pregnancies were an increased risk for IUGR.