Contraception for women with heart disease: an update

It is estimated that by the year 2013, 303.000 women worldwide died as a result of pregnancy-related conditions. The risk of pregnancy complications in women with heart disease depends on the specific disease and on the individual conditions of each patient.

A bibliographic research was carried out on PubMed using the descriptors "heart disease" AND "contraceptive" OR "pregnancy" AND "thrombosis" OR "angina" OR "cardiopathy". A total of 1456 articles were found.

Classification of heart disease in pregnancy according to the severity of the condition include high, intermediate or low-risk cardiac patients. Tubal ligation is indicated for women with high-risk heart disease. Reversible methods are possible for intermediate or low-risk cardiac patient, but formal contraindications for estrogens are present in large percentage of clinical conditions and progestogen-only formulations are generally considered. Contraindications to the use of an intrauterine device disease should be considered.

According to the different forms of heart disease, different contraceptive methods are recommended.