Publication Date
2012
Journal
The Texas Heart Journal
PMID
22740745
Publication Date(s)
2012
Language
English
PMCID
PMC3384066
PubMedCentral® Posted Date
2012
PubMedCentral® Full Text Version
Post-Print
Published Open-Access
yes
Keywords
Abortion, spontaneous/etiology; heart defects, congenital/complications/physiopathology/therapy/surgery; ventricular function, right/physiology; treatment outcome
Copyright
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Abstract
Reversible causes of miscarriage are many, but they affect only 1% of women who are trying to conceive. Herein, we describe the case of a 23-year-old woman who presented for evaluation of repeated miscarriages and was found to have hypoxemia and erythrocytosis. Further evaluation revealed hypoplastic right-heart syndrome with an intracardiac shunt. She underwent hybrid repair with pulmonary valve balloon valvuloplasty, followed by surgery to perform atrial septal defect closure and a Glenn anastomosis. The erythrocytosis and hypoxemia resolved, and she was able to conceive and deliver a healthy baby at term 2 years later.
This is a unique case of a rare congenital heart defect that went unnoticed until adulthood, when attempts at pregnancy failed because of the associated hypoxemia. Timely and appropriate treatment led to a successful pregnancy after repeated miscarriages. This case exemplifies the need for a comprehensive medical evaluation of every woman with a history of multiple miscarriages to determine whether a reversible cause exists.