Objective: To determine the prevalence of pre-eclampsia and fetal growth restriction (FGR; <3rd centile) in women with pre-existing cardiac dysfunction. Design: Retrospective cohort study. Setting: Maternity units in UK and Australia. Population: Pregnant women with impaired left ventricular ejection fraction<55%. Methods: Routine clinical data, including medical history and pregnancy outcome were collected retrospectively. Main Outcome Measures: Pre-specified outcomes included pre-eclampsia and FGR prevalence in women with pre-existing cardiac impairment, compared with the general population; and the relationship between pregnancy outcome and pre-pregnancy cardiac phenotype. Results: In this cohort of 282 pregnancies, pre-eclampsia prevalence was not significantly increased (4.6% [95% C.I 2.2-7.0%] versus population prevalence of 4.6% [95% C.I. 2.7-8.2], p=0.99); 12/13 of these women had additional obstetric/medical risk factors. However, prevalences of preterm pre-eclampsia (<37 weeks) and FGR were increased (1.8% versus 0.7%, p=0.03; 15.2% versus 5.5%, p<0.001, respectively). Neither systolic nor diastolic function correlated with pregnancy outcome; however, left ventricular mass index (LVMi) weakly correlated with pre-eclampsia (5g/m2 increase: OR 1.18 [95% C.I. 1.01-1.38], p=0.04). Antenatal ß blockers (n=116) were associated with lower birthweight Z score (adjusted difference -0.33 [95% C.I. -0.63- -0.02], p=0.04). Conclusions: This study demonstrated a modest increase in preterm pre-eclampsia and significant increase in FGR in women with cardiac dysfunction. These results do not support a causal relationship between cardiac dysfunction and pre-eclampsia, especially accounting for the background risk status of the population. The mechanism underpinning the relationship between cardiac dysfunction and FGR merits further research but could be influenced by concomitant ß blocker use.

Objective: report maternal, fetal and neonatal complications associated with single intrauterine fetal death (sIUFD) in monochorionic twin pregnancies Design: prospective observational study Setting: UK Population: 81 monochorionic twin pregnancies with sIUFD after 14 weeks gestation, irrespective of cause Methods: UKOSS reporters submitted data collection forms using data from hospital records. Main outcome measures: aetiology of sIUFD; surviving co-twin outcomes: perinatal mortality, central nervous system (CNS) imaging, gestation and mode of delivery, neonatal outcomes; post-mortem findings; maternal outcomes. Results: The commonest aetiology was twin-twin transfusion syndrome (38/81, 47%), “spontaneous” sIUFD (22/81, 27%) was second commonest. Death of the co-twin was common (10/70, 14%). Preterm birth (<37 weeks gestation) was the commonest adverse outcome (77%): half were spontaneous and half iatrogenic. Only 46/75 (61%) cases had antenatal CNS imaging, of which 33 cases had known results of which 7/33 (21%) had radiological findings suggestive of neurological damage. Postnatal CNS imaging revealed an additional 7 babies with CNS abnormalities, all born at <36 weeks, including all 4 babies exhibiting abnormal CNS signs. Major maternal morbidity was relatively common, with 6% requiring ITU admission, all related to infection. Conclusions: Monochorionic twin pregnancies with single IUD are complex and require specialist care. Further research is required regarding optimal gestation at delivery of the surviving co-twin, preterm birth prevention, and classifying the cause of death in twin pregnancies. Awareness of the importance of CNS imaging, and follow-up, needs improvement.