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Managing palpitations and arrhythmias during pregnancy
1 Department of Cardiology, Hammersmith Hospital NHS Trust, London, UK
2 Guy’s & St Thomas’ Foundation Trust, St Thomas’ Hospital, London, UK
Correspondence to:
Dr Catherine Nelson-Piercy, Guy’s & St Thomas’ Foundation Trust, 10th floor Directorate Office, North Wing, St Thomas’ Hospital, Lambeth Palace Rd, London SE1 7EH, UK; catherine.nelson-piercy@gstt.nhs.uk
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
Arrhythmias in pregnancy are common and may cause concern for the wellbeing of both the mother and the fetus. For some mothers the arrhythmias may be a recurrence of a previously diagnosed arrhythmia or the first presentation in a woman with known structural heart disease. In most cases, however, there is no previous history of heart disease, and the new occurrence of a cardiac problem can generate considerable anxiety. The majority of arrhythmias that occur during pregnancy are benign, and simply troublesome; hence, advice about appropriate actions during symptomatic episodes, together with reassurance, is usually all that is required. In the remaining minority of cases, judicious use of antiarrhythmic drugs will lead to a safe and successful outcome for both mother and baby. While there were no documented maternal deaths from primary arrhythmias in the last UK confidential enquiry into maternal mortality,1 9% of cardiac deaths were defined as sudden
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