Abstract
A 30-year-old female who was 26 weeks pregnant, presented to an outside facility with acute hypoxic respiratory failure and was initially treated as an asthma exacerbation. Her chest X-ray and CT revealed extensive bilateral airspace disease of ground glass opacities (Figure 1A) and a main pulmonary artery diameter of 3.5 cm. Transesophageal echocardiogram revealed severe mitral stenosis (MS) with a high Wilkins-Abascal score of 11/16, a mean mitral gradient of 19 mmHg, and a right ventricular systolic pressure of 94 mmHg consistent with severe pulmonary hypertension (Figure 1B, 1C). Rapid COVID test was positive, patient clinically deteriorated and was emergently transferred to our facility. She rapidly required intubation and vasopressor support. Our multi-disciplinary team (MDT) decided to perform an emergent rescue percutaneous balloon mitral valvuloplasty, which led to an improvement of mitral stenosis, but with a resultant significant MR. Intraoperative decision was taken to proceed with an emergency cesarean section and a live male was delivered. Postoperatively, she was treated supportively for COVID pneumonia with rapid improvement in clinical status. She was extubated on the 3 rd postoperative day (POD), and was ambulating without any need for oxygen by the 7 th POD, and discharged home on the 11 th POD. Her infant continued to improve and was discharged 1 month later. Discussion: Rheumatic MS constitutes a major cause of acquired heart disease complicating pregnancy in the developing world. This case report features some of the challenges in the diagnosis and management of a complex condition in the pandemic environment and highlights the importance of MDT approach.
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