Adult congenital heart disease and pregnancy

Adults with congenital heart disease now form the largest group of women with cardiac disease becoming pregnant in the developed world. This is both a mark of impressive steps forward in the management of congenital heart disease and also a challenge to the medical community to develop systems of care that will best serve these women and their babies. Each woman with congenital heart disease presents a unique pattern of challenges for the cardiologist, obstetrician, and anesthesiologist, and their care should be tailored to deal with their individual circumstances. As this population of patients continues to grow, we must continue to learn and improve our diagnostic tools and management strategies to refine their care. This review intends to focus on reviewing the outcomes in this set of patients and also an approach to the assessment and the management of these patients, primarily for an audience of obstetricians, pediatricians, and anesthesiologists.