Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0018799 (heart disease)
 34,133 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Fetal echocardiographic examination was performed on 945 pregnant women (normal pregnancy: 291, high risk pregnancy: 654) since 1980. Of these, 39 fetuses (4.1%) were diagnosed as having cardiac arrhythmia. Fifteen fetuses had bradycardia, 7 tachycardia and 17 had an ectopic beat. These had been followed from 1 day to 8 years (mean 1 year and 6 months) soon after birth. Of the 15 cases with bradycardia (complete AV block; 8, 2:1 AV block; 3 and sinus bradycardia; 4), four resulted in an intrauterine fetal death, one was terminated and 5 died soon after birth. The remaining 5 cases are alive and 3 of these 5 have received an implanted pacemaker. Of these 15 cases with bradycardia 7 were associated with congenital heart disease, 6 of which died. Seven cases had tachycardia (supraventricular tachycardia: 3 and atrial flutter with 2:1 AV block: 3). Transplacental antiarrhythmic drug (digoxin and/or verapamil) administration was instituted in 5 cases and a conversion of the arrhythmia was achieved in 4. Paroxysmal tachycardia still remained after delivery in the other 3 cases. Two cases with supraventricular tachycardia (one of them with WPW syndrome type B) were resolved. One case has had persistent chaotic atrial rhythm for 7 years after birth. Of the 17 with an ectopic beat, 11 cases were diagnosed to have a supraventricular ectopic beat and 6 cases with a ventricular ectopic beat. A remaining arrhythmia was observed in 10 cases after delivery but all of these were resolved within 3 months after birth. Fetal tachycardia had relatively favorable prognosis because usually the intrauterine treatment was effective. However, fetal bradycardia had poor prognosis and further investigations to establish more effective treatments are essential.
 ...
PMID:Fetal arrhythmias; intrauterine diagnosis and treatment. 184 Nov 76

The effect of maternal exercise (the two-step test of Master) on the fetus was studied in 28 pregnant women. These subjects consisted of 5 cardiac cases, 5 cases with IUGR, 5 cases with preeclampsia and 13 normal pregnant women. Overt deceleration of the FHR was found after exercise only in 3 cardiac cases whose FHR tracings had been normal before. Slight changes such as a small rise or a small fall in FHR after exercise were seen in 4 of 7 cases who had shown decelerations in FHR before, and in a normal case. Fetal tachycardia appeared in 2 normal cases immediately before exercise; in one case the FHR tracing appeared not to be influenced by exercise; in the other case it rested at the normal baseline level after exercise. In most cases the amplitude of baseline variability remained unchanged or decreased after exercise. The severity of deceleration before exercise did not correlate well with the results of the exercise test. The exercise test did not reveal any new patients who might have placental insufficiency, suggesting that this procedure may not be warranted for evaluating a patient with placental insufficiency. Fetal response to exercise, however, may disclose a maternal hemodynamic problem. The exercise test with FHR monitoring should be recommended to a patient with heart disease.
 ...
PMID:[The effect of maternal exercise on the fetal heart rate]. 674 89

Foetal arrhythmias are encountered in 1-2% of pregnancies and 10% of these are associated with some form of foetal mortality or morbidity, including structural heart disease, foetal death and neurological complications. The most frequent types of arrhythmia are supraventricular arrhythmias of which the innocent premature atrial depolarisations make up 85%; 10% are tachycardias with a foetal heart rate of over 180/min. Echocardiographic evaluation is required to exclude associated structural abnormalities and to decide whether therapy is required. The prognosis of a foetus with tachycardia depends on the presence of associated pathology, the type of arrhythmia, the presence of foetal hydrops, the heart rate and the adequacy of treatment. The treatment of foetal tachycardia depends on the type of the tachycardia and since most tachycardias are of supraventricular origin the therapeutic armamentarium includes digoxin, sotalol and flecainide, each with its specific side effects. Foetal tachycardia patients require immediate diagnosis and if necessary therapy in a specialized center.
 ...
PMID:[Supraventricular tachycardia and premature atrial contractions in fetus]. 1123 90