THE PREGNANT PATIENT WITH PULMONARY ARTERY HYPERTENSION

The first international conference on pulmonary hypertension was organized by the World Health Organization in 1973. At that time there were no effective therapies and patients with primary or idiopathic pulmonary hypertension had a median survival of less than 3 years. Now many treatments have more than doubled the survival time and more patients present for surgery and anesthesia and survive to become pregnant. Nevertheless, pregnancy complicated by pulmonary hypertension poses risks to the mother that can prove fatal. Two recent articles have outlined the current treatment modalities and the management of pulmonary hypertension during pregnancy.