[Cardiopulmonary emergencies during pregnancy and the postpartum period]

The number of patients who develop cardiac problems during pregnancy are increasing and represent to date the major cause of maternal death in western countries. Pregnancy induces several changes which together increase the hemodynamic burden on the cardiovascular system and can also cause a prothrombotic state. Hence, latent or apparent cardiac disease can acutely decompensate during pregnancy. From a cardiovascular perspective, pregnancies are most often complicated by acute coronary syndromes, peripartum cardiomyopathy, arrhythmias, or pulmonary embolism. Due to potential fetal harm conventional diagnostic and therapeutic approaches are limited by the restricted use of radiogenic cardiac imaging and applicable medications. Therefore, knowledge about available therapeutic options is of greatest importance, since guideline recommendations have clearly been demonstrated to reduce morbidity and mortality in acute cardiac emergencies during pregnancy.