Quality of life in pregnancy after percutaneous closure of atrial septal defect guided by transthoracic echocardiography

Purpose: We evaluated quality of life (QoL) in pregnant women who underwent transthoracic echocardiography-guided percutaneous closure of atrial septal defects (ASDs). Methods A total of 45 pregnant women underwent transthoracic echocardiography-guided percutaneous closure of ASD. We assessed QoL using the short-Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36), and compared results between preoperative and postoperative patients, as well as between those with ASD and healthy pregnant women in their second and third trimesters of pregnancy. Results All patients showed improved right ventricular function after operation, and had an NYHA classification of ClassⅠ. Mean SF-36 scores of the postoperative group were better on all sub-scales than those of the pre-operation group ( p  < 0.05), with the exception of role-emotional and mental health. Mean scores for the preoperative group were also lower on all sub-scales than those of healthy pregnant controls ( p  < 0.05), with the exception of role-physical, role-emotional, and mental health. There was no difference between the postoperative group and healthy pregnant controls. In a subgroup analysis, scores were better in some dimensions (social functioning, and role-emotional) for post-operative patients in the 31–40 years of age group and the group on their second or third pregnancies than those of the 20–30 years of age group and the group on their first pregnancies ( p  < 0.05). Conclusion After closure of ASD, QoL in pregnant women was improved. In a subgroup analysis, the younger women and those on their first pregnancy performed more poorly in some dimensions. This suggested that these groups should receive more proactive intervention.