THE EFFECTS OF PREGNANCY IN SUBJECTS WITH REPAIRED TETRALOGY OF FALLOT

Valeria E Duarte; Kenichiro Yamamura; Katherine E Economy; Julia A Graf; Minmin Lu; Gabriele Egidy Assenza; Gauri R Karur; Anais Marenco; Ayako Ishikita; Madeline E Duncan; Tal Geva; Rachel M Wald; Anne Marie Valente

doi:10.1016/j.ahj.2024.04.015

THE EFFECTS OF PREGNANCY IN SUBJECTS WITH REPAIRED TETRALOGY OF FALLOT

Am Heart J. 2024 Apr 25:S0002-8703(24)00102-9. doi: 10.1016/j.ahj.2024.04.015. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Cardiology, Boston Children's Hospital, and Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA. Electronic address: vduarte@houstonmethodist.org.
² University Health Network and Mount Sinai Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
³ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
⁴ Department of Cardiology, Boston Children's Hospital, and Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
⁵ Pediatric Cardiology and Adult Congenital Heart Disease Program, Department of Cardio-Thoracic and Vascular Medicine IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
⁶ Joint Department of Medical Imaging, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
⁷ Department of Cardiology, Boston Children's Hospital, and Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.

PMID: 38677503
DOI: 10.1016/j.ahj.2024.04.015

Abstract

Background: Previous reports reveal inconsistent findings of right ventricular (RV) changes following pregnancy in subjects with repaired tetralogy of Fallot (rTOF).

Methods: A two-center, retrospective cohort study which included women with rTOF who completed pregnancy that were matched to nulliparous women with rTOF by age at the time of baseline cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR), RV ejection fraction (RVEF), and indexed RV end-diastolic volume (RVEDVi). Pre-pregnancy and postpartum cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) were analyzed and compared to sequential CMR of nulliparous subjects with rTOF.

Results: Thirty-six women with rTOF who completed pregnancy were matched to 72 nulliparous women with rTOF. Over a mean period of 3.1 years for the pregnancy group and 2.7 years for the comparison group, there was no significant change in the RVEDVi, RVEF, RV mass, pulmonary regurgitation severity, left ventricular (LV) volumes, LV ejection fraction (LVEF), or LV mass when comparing the baseline CMR and the follow-up CMR in either of the groups. There was a slight increase in RV indexed end-systolic volume (RVESVi) when comparing the baseline CMR and the follow-up CMR in the pregnancy group (68.93, SD 23.34 ml/m² at baseline vs. 72.97, SD 25.24 ml/m² at follow-up, p= 0.028). Using a mixed effects model for CMR parameters change over time; when adjusted for time between baseline and follow-up CMR there was no significant difference in rate of change between the pregnancy and comparison groups.

Conclusions: Most ventricular remodeling parameters measured by CMR did not significantly change in subjects with rTOF who completed pregnancy or in nulliparous subjects with rTOF. In the pregnancy group, RVESVi is larger in those individuals who have undergone pregnancy without a significant change in ventricular function. These patients should be followed longitudinally to determine the long-term ventricular and clinical effects of pregnancy.

Keywords: adult congenital heart disease; cardiac magnetic resonance; cardio-obstetrics; pregnancy; tetralogy of Fallot.