Patterns of cardiac disease among pregnant women in Bahrain during the period 1986-1993

This is a retrospective study of all cardiac pregnant women who delivered from 1st January 1986 to 31st December 1993 in Government Maternity Hospitals and Units in Bahrain. The prevalence of heart disease in this series is 0.69% with a trend towards increase in the incidence. The cardiac related maternal mortality was one per 80988 deliveries and perinatal mortality was less than the national average 18/1000 for this period. The leading cause of heart diseases in pregnancy is rheumatic heart disease 51.07% followed by congenital heart 20.35% arrhythmias 6.2%, and mitral valve prolapse 9.46% and ischaemic heart disease 4.6%. Other causes such an inflammatory, hypertensive, thyroid and auto-immune factors are only occasionally diagnosed in 5.1% of cardiac women