Long-term effects of multiple pregnancies on cardiac dimensions and systolic and diastolic function

This study evaluated whether the recurring volume loading and hormonal changes in multiple pregnancies might have some cumulative effect on heart size and function.

Echocardiograms were performed on 20 healthy women with at least 4 (mean 5.2) term pregnancies; 20 healthy, age-matched, nulliparous women served as controls.

There were no significant differences in chamber dimension, systolic or diastolic function, valvular incompetence, or heart rate between the groups. There was a small, but significant, prolongation in deceleration time of the E wave in the multiparous women.

These findings show that the human heart is generally able to repeatedly adapt to multiple episodes of volume overload in pregnancy without lasting detrimental structural or functional changes.