Use of Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation in Postpartum Management of a Patient with Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension

Current guidelines do not recommend pregnancy in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). This is due to the associated high mortality, which both dissuades PAH patients from becoming pregnant and encourages termination of pregnancy due to high maternal mortality risk. As a result, there...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Humna Abid Memon, Zeenat Safdar, Ahmad Goodarzi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Hindawi Limited 2018-01-01
Series:Case Reports in Pulmonology
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2018/7031731
Description
Summary:Current guidelines do not recommend pregnancy in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). This is due to the associated high mortality, which both dissuades PAH patients from becoming pregnant and encourages termination of pregnancy due to high maternal mortality risk. As a result, there is a lack of data and, consequently, there are only general guidelines available for management of pregnancy in PAH patients. Additionally, novel therapeutic strategies such as extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), although used in the management of nonpregnant PAH patients as a bridge to lung transplantation, have not been used to treat cardiopulmonary collapse in pregnant PAH patients. In an attempt to bridge this paucity of data, we report the successful use of ECMO in resuscitation and management of a pregnant PAH patient who experienced cardiopulmonary collapse following a caesarian section.
ISSN:2090-6846
2090-6854