Question
A woman with congenital heart disease is considering pregnancy, and her family is worried about her health condition.
Answer
It is recommended that the woman undergo a repair surgery for atrial septal defect before considering pregnancy. Once the surgery has fully recovered, she can then consider the matter of pregnancy. For patients with atrial septal defects, if the defect is minor and does not affect heart function, pregnancy can be considered. However, due to the obvious heart condition of the woman, including enlargement of the right atrium and right ventricle and pulmonary hypertension, the best course of action is to treat the heart disease first before considering pregnancy to avoid increasing the heart’s burden during pregnancy, which may lead to heart failure.