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Journal of Clinical Pharmacology Sep 2022One of the most successful achievements of fetal intervention is the pharmacologic management of fetal arrhythmias. This management usually takes place during the second... (Review)
Review
One of the most successful achievements of fetal intervention is the pharmacologic management of fetal arrhythmias. This management usually takes place during the second or third trimester. While most arrhythmias in the fetus are benign, both tachy- and bradyarrhythmias can lead to fetal hydrops or cardiac dysfunction and require treatment under certain conditions. This review will highlight precise diagnosis by fetal echocardiography and magnetocardiography, the 2 primary means of diagnosing fetuses with arrhythmia. Additionally, transient or hidden arrhythmias such as bundle branch block, QT prolongation, and torsades de pointes, which can lead to cardiomyopathy and sudden unexplained death in the fetus, may also need pharmacologic treatment. The review will address the types of drug therapies; current knowledge of drug usage, efficacy, and precautions; and the transition to neonatal treatments when indicated. Finally, we will highlight new assessments, including the role of the nurse in the care of fetal arrhythmias. The prognosis for the human fetus with arrhythmias continues to improve as we expand our ability to provide intensive care unit-like monitoring, to better understand drug treatments, to optimize subsequent pregnancy monitoring, to effectively predict timing for delivery, and to follow up these conditions into the neonatal period and into childhood. Coordinated initiatives that facilitate clinical fetal research are needed to address gaps in knowledge and to facilitate fetal drug and device development.
Topics: Arrhythmias, Cardiac; Child; Electrocardiography; Female; Fetal Diseases; Fetus; Humans; Infant, Newborn; Pregnancy; Prognosis
PubMed: 36106782
DOI: 10.1002/jcph.2129 -
JACC. Clinical Electrophysiology Jan 2022Increasing maternal mortality and incidence of arrhythmias in pregnancy have been noted over the past 2 decades in the United States. Pregnancy is associated with a... (Review)
Review
Increasing maternal mortality and incidence of arrhythmias in pregnancy have been noted over the past 2 decades in the United States. Pregnancy is associated with a greater risk of arrhythmias, and patients with a history of arrhythmias are at significant risk of arrhythmia recurrence during pregnancy. The incidence of atrial fibrillation in pregnancy is rising. This review discusses the management of tachyarrhythmias and bradyarrhythmias in pregnancy, including management of cardiac arrest. Management of fetal arrhythmias are also reviewed. For patients without structural heart disease, β-blocker therapy, especially propranolol and metoprolol, and antiarrhythmic drugs, such as flecainide and sotalol, can be safely used to treat tachyarrhythmias. As a last resort, catheter ablation with minimal fluoroscopy can be performed. Device implantation can be safely performed with minimal fluoroscopy and under echocardiographic or ultrasound guidance in patients with clear indications for devices during pregnancy. Because of rising maternal mortality in the United States, which is partly driven by increasing maternal age and comorbidities, a multidisciplinary and/or integrative approach to arrhythmia management from the prepartum to the postpartum period is needed.
Topics: Anti-Arrhythmia Agents; Atrial Fibrillation; Female; Flecainide; Humans; Pregnancy; Sotalol; Tachycardia
PubMed: 35057977
DOI: 10.1016/j.jacep.2021.10.004 -
Anaesthesia Aug 2021If an accidental dural puncture occurs, one option is to insert a catheter and use it as an intrathecal catheter. This avoids the need for a further injection and can... (Review)
Review
If an accidental dural puncture occurs, one option is to insert a catheter and use it as an intrathecal catheter. This avoids the need for a further injection and can rapidly provide labour analgesia and anaesthesia for caesarean section. However, there are no recommendations for managing intrathecal catheters and, therefore, significant variation in clinical practice exists. Mismanagement of the intrathecal catheter can lead to increased motor block, high spinal anaesthesia, drug error, hypotension and fetal bradycardia. Care must be taken with an intrathecal catheter to adhere to strict aseptic technique, meticulous labelling, cautious administration of medications and good communication with the patient and other staff. Every institution considering the use of intrathecal catheters should establish a protocol. For labour analgesia, we recommend the use of dilute local anaesthetic agents and opioids. For caesarean section anaesthesia, gradual titration to the level of the fourth thoracic dermatome, with full monitoring, in a facility equipped to manage complications, should be performed using local anaesthetics combined with lipophilic opioids and morphine or diamorphine. Although evidence of the presence and duration of intrathecal catheters on the development of post-dural puncture headache and need for epidural blood patch is limited, we suggest considering leaving the intrathecal catheter in for 24 hours to reduce the chance of developing a post-dural puncture headache while maintaining precautions to avoid drug error and cerebrospinal fluid leakage. Injection of sterile normal saline into the intrathecal catheter may reduce post-dural puncture headache. The level of evidence for these recommendations was low.
Topics: Adult; Analgesia, Epidural; Analgesia, Obstetrical; Anesthesia, Epidural; Anesthesia, Obstetrical; Catheters; Cesarean Section; Female; Humans; Pregnancy; Spinal Puncture
PubMed: 33476424
DOI: 10.1111/anae.15390 -
Journal of Clinical Medicine Jun 2021Fetal arrhythmias are mostly benign and transient. However, some of them are associated with structural defects or can cause heart failure, fetal hydrops, and can lead... (Review)
Review
Fetal arrhythmias are mostly benign and transient. However, some of them are associated with structural defects or can cause heart failure, fetal hydrops, and can lead to intrauterine death. The analysis of fetal heart rhythm is based on ultrasound (M-mode and Doppler echocardiography). Irregular rhythm due to atrial ectopic beats is the most common type of fetal arrhythmia and is generally benign. Tachyarrhythmias are diagnosed when the fetal heart rate is persistently above 180 beats per minute (bpm). The most common fetal tachyarrhythmias are paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia and atrial flutter. Most fetal tachycardias can be terminated or controlled by transplacental or direct administration of anti-arrhythmic drugs. Fetal bradycardia is diagnosed when the fetal heart rate is slower than 110 bpm. Persistent bradycardia outside labor or in the absence of placental pathology is mostly due to atrioventricular (AV) block. Approximately half of fetal heart blocks are in cases with structural heart defects, and AV block in cases with structurally normal heart is often caused by maternal anti-Ro/SSA antibodies. The efficacy of prenatal treatment for fetal AV block is limited. Our review aims to provide a practical guide for the diagnosis and management of common fetal arrythmias, from the joint perspective of the fetal medicine specialist and the cardiologist.
PubMed: 34204066
DOI: 10.3390/jcm10112510 -
Acta Clinica Croatica Jun 2019Regional centro-axial anaesthesia, primarily spinal block, is the preferred method of anaesthesia for elective caesarean section because it entails fewer risks for the...
Regional centro-axial anaesthesia, primarily spinal block, is the preferred method of anaesthesia for elective caesarean section because it entails fewer risks for the mother and the foetus compared to general anaesthesia. The most common side effect associated with spinal block is hypotension due to sympatholysis, occurring in up to 75% of cases. Spinal block-induced sympatholysis leads to vasodilatation and consequently causes maternal hypotension, which may compromise uterine blood flow and foetal circulation, and thus cause foetal hypoxia, bradycardia and acidosis. The selection of the most efficient treatment strategy to achieve haemodynamic stability during spinal anaesthesia for caesarean section continues to be one of the main challenges in obstetric anaesthesiology. A number of measures for the prevention and treatment of spinal block-induced hypotension are used in clinical practice, such as preloading and coloading with crystalloid and/or colloid infusion, wrapping of lower limbs with compression stockings or bandages, administering an optimal dose of local anaesthetic and achieving an optimal spinal block level, left tilt positioning, and administering inotropes and vasopressors. Instead of administering vasopressors after a drop in blood pressure has already occurred, the latest algorithms recommend a prophylactic administration of vasopressor infusion. The preferred vasoconstrictor in this case is phenylephrine, which is associated with a lower incidence of foetal acidosis, and maternal nausea and vomiting compared to other vasoconstrictors.
Topics: Adult; Anesthesia, Obstetrical; Anesthesia, Spinal; Blood Pressure; Cesarean Section; Female; Humans; Hypotension; Pregnancy
PubMed: 31741565
DOI: 10.20471/acc.2019.58.s1.13 -
Hellenic Journal of Cardiology : HJC =... 2019Fetal arrhythmias warrant sophisticated surveillance and management, especially for the high-risk pregnancies. Clinically, fetal arrhythmias can be categorized into 3... (Review)
Review
Fetal arrhythmias warrant sophisticated surveillance and management, especially for the high-risk pregnancies. Clinically, fetal arrhythmias can be categorized into 3 types: premature contractions, tachyarrhythmias, and bradyarrhythmias. Fetal arrhythmias include electrocardiography, cardiotocography, echocardiography and magnetocardiography. Oxygen saturation monitoring can be an effective way of fetal surveillance for congenital complete AV block or SVT during labor. Genetic surveillance of fetal arrhythmias may facilitate the understanding of the mechanisms of the arrhythmias and provide theoretical basis for diagnosis and treatment. For fetal benign arrhythmias, usually no treatment but a close follow-up is need, while persistant fetal arrhythmias with congestive heart dysfunction or hydrops fetalis, intrauterine or postnatal treatments are required. The prognoses of fetal arrhythmias depend on the type and severity of fetal arrhythmias and the associated fetal conditions. Responses of fetal arrhythmias to individual treatments and clinical schemes are heterogeneous, and the prognoses are poor particularly under such circumstances.
Topics: Arrhythmias, Cardiac; Bradycardia; Cardiotocography; Echocardiography; Electrocardiography; Female; Fetal Diseases; Fetal Therapies; Fetus; Heart Failure; Humans; Hydrops Fetalis; Magnetocardiography; Pregnancy; Prenatal Care; Prognosis; Tachycardia; Watchful Waiting
PubMed: 30576831
DOI: 10.1016/j.hjc.2018.12.003 -
Indian Pacing and Electrophysiology... 2019This article reviews important features for improving the diagnosis and management of fetal arrhythmias. The normal fetal heart rate ranges between 110 and 160 beats per... (Review)
Review
This article reviews important features for improving the diagnosis and management of fetal arrhythmias. The normal fetal heart rate ranges between 110 and 160 beats per minute. A fetal heart rate is considered abnormal if the heart rate is beyond the normal ranges or the rhythm is irregular. The rate, duration, and origin of the rhythm and degree of irregularity usually determine the potential for hemodynamic consequences. Most of the fetal rhythm disturbances are the result of premature atrial contractions (PACs) and are of little clinical significance. Other arrhythmias include tachyarrhythmias (heart rate in excess of 160 beats/min) such as atrioventricular (AV) reentry tachycardia, atrial flutter, and ventricular tachycardia, and bradyarrhythmias (heart rate <110 beats/min) such as sinus node dysfunction, complete heart block (CHB) and long QT syndrome (which is associated with sinus bradycardia and pseudo-heart block).
PubMed: 30817991
DOI: 10.1016/j.ipej.2019.02.007 -
Frontiers in Bioscience (Scholar... Jun 2010Clinical fetal heart failure occurs in conditions associated with increasing left and right atrial filling and/or central venous pressures and manifests as right heart... (Review)
Review
Clinical fetal heart failure occurs in conditions associated with increasing left and right atrial filling and/or central venous pressures and manifests as right heart failure with the development of pericardial and pleural effusions, ascites and peripheral and placental edema. Fetal heart failure may occur in primary myocardial disease, in presence of the extracardiac pathology impacting the loading conditions of the fetal heart and in conditions associated with secondary myocardial dysfunction including structural heart defects, bradycardia or tachycardia. This review summarizes recent literature of the understanding of the normal fetal circulation and the pathogenic mechanisms responsible for the evolution of fetal heart failure, strategies for fetal and perinatal management of fetal heart failure, and future directions that may lead to novel strategies to treat affected pregnancies and.
Topics: Echocardiography; Female; Fetal Diseases; Fetal Heart; Heart Defects, Congenital; Heart Failure; Humans; Hydrops Fetalis; Myocardial Contraction; Pregnancy; Ultrasonography, Prenatal
PubMed: 20515832
DOI: 10.2741/s109