Incessant ventricular tachycardia complicating heart failure in pregnancy.

Abstract

Cardiovascular diseases in pregnancy increase the risk of adverse maternal and foetal outcomes. Diagnosis and management of cardiovascular diseases, such as arrhythmias and heart failure in pregnancy, in resource-limited settings, is, however, challenging. We present a 31-year-old multiparous woman whose index presentation was for worsening symptoms of acute heart failure at 33 weeks of gestation. She had, however, had a prior history of breathlessness in a previous pregnancy for which she was diagnosed with peripartum cardiomyopathy. During this index clinical presentation, she was found to have dilated cardiac chambers with severe left ventricular systolic dysfunction and monomorphic ventricular tachycardia. Multidisciplinary team management resulted in successful cardioversion and satisfactory maternal and foetal outcomes.

Funding: None declared.