Guidelines for Assessing Maternal Cardiovascular Physiology During Pregnancy and Postpartum

Overview

Journal Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol

Publisher American Physiological Society

Specialties Cardiology & Vascular Diseases
Physiology

Date 2024 May 17

PMID 38758127

Authors

Helen E Collins

Barbara T Alexander

Alison S Care

Margie H Davenport

Sandra T Davidge

Mansoureh Eghbali

Dino A Giussani

Martijn F Hoes

Colleen G Julian

Holly A LaVoie

I Mark Olfert

Susan E Ozanne

Egle Bytautiene Prewit

Junie P Warrington

Lubo Zhang

Styliani Goulopoulou

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Maternal mortality rates are at an all-time high across the world and are set to increase in subsequent years. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death during pregnancy and postpartum, especially in the United States. Therefore, understanding the physiological changes in the cardiovascular system during normal pregnancy is necessary to understand disease-related pathology. Significant systemic and cardiovascular physiological changes occur during pregnancy that are essential for supporting the maternal-fetal dyad. The physiological impact of pregnancy on the cardiovascular system has been examined in both experimental animal models and in humans. However, there is a continued need in this field of study to provide increased rigor and reproducibility. Therefore, these guidelines aim to provide information regarding best practices and recommendations to accurately and rigorously measure cardiovascular physiology during normal and cardiovascular disease-complicated pregnancies in human and animal models.

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