Therapeutic guidelines for congenital complete heart block presenting in pregnancy

Congenital complete heart block presenting for the first time in pregnancy is a therapeutic challenge. Most of the reports are from an era when pacemaker therapy was in its infancy. Although isolated case reports have appeared, there are no definite guidelines for the management of such patients. We describe three cases of congenital complete heart block presenting in pregnancy. All the patients delivered normally with temporary pacing support during labor. Two of the three women remained symptomatic during the postpartum period when they were being weaned off the pacing support, so they were discharged with permanent pacemaker implantation. The third woman remained symptom-free during pregnancy, labor, and the postpartum period and was discharged without a permanent pacemaker; she is being followed with routine and 24-hour ambulatory electrocardiography. We review the literature in an attempt to formulate a therapeutic policy for such patients.