Pregnancy complicated by atrial septal defect

Atrial septal defect (ASD) is one of the most common congenital heart diseases during pregnancy. Pregnancy complicated with congenital heart disease is a high-risk pregnancy and one of the main causes of maternal death. Congenital heart disease refers to structural or functional abnormalities of the cardiovascular system present at birth. It is caused by abnormal cardiovascular development or developmental disorders during the fetal period, as well as the failure of tissues that should regress after birth to do so, resulting in cardiovascular malformations. Mild cases may have no obvious symptoms and are not easily detected before pregnancy; they are only diagnosed after pregnancy when the increased cardiac burden produces symptoms. Severe cases are mostly diagnosed before pregnancy, and some have even undergone corrective surgery. Regardless of the type, after pregnancy, as gestational age increases, total circulating blood volume increases, the heart shifts upward and to the left, great vessels become distorted, and hemodynamic changes occur, increasing the cardiac burden and thus making heart failure more likely.