Incidence and Causes of Dyspnea in Pregnant Women: Experience from a Tertiary Care Hospital

Abstract

Background: Dyspnea or shortness of breath may be a common symptom in pregnancy presenting in 60-70% of normal women.“It begins early in pregnancy, gets better as the pregnancy goes on, and reaches a plateau close to term. Because it doesn't interfere with daily activities, most women can bear it.Objective: This study aimed to find out the incidence and causes of dyspnea in pregnant women. Methodology: This study was carried out at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Bacha Khan Medical College/Mardan Medical Complex, Mardan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, from January 2017 to October 2019. Pregnant individuals with a live fetus present, experiencing dyspnea classified as New York Heart Association Classification class >II, were included using consecutive non-probability sampling. Comprehensive assessments including medical history, physical examinations, and various laboratory tests such as blood complete picture, thyroid function tests, chest x-ray, ECG, or echocardiography were conducted to rule out common causes of dyspnea. Statistical methods were employed to analyze the frequency and percentage of collected data.Results: A total of 1200 obstetric patients mean age 29.5 ± 6 years, with dyspnea extending from NYHA>II were included The prevalence of dyspnea was 40% for all obstetric patients. 35% of patients had no apparent cause and 5% had an underlying reason for dyspnea. The causative agent of maternal cardiac lesions was 96 (57%) developed, 40 (23%), inherited 25 (15%), arrhythmias and 9 (5%) had heart muscle disease. Of pulmonary illnesses 28 (Eighty percent ) were due to asthma, 4 (11.6%) were infectiously comprising TB and pneumonia, 2 (5.7%) had pulmonary edema and 1 (2.8%) established severe lung damage secondary to obstetric complications. A smaller amount of additional reasons for dyspnea were sepsis 18 (90), n=1 (5%) were amniotic fluid embolism and 1 (5%) ruptured gall bladder.Conclusion: Despite being a normal pregnancy change, dyspnea should not be ignored. The only indication of an underlying life-threatening illness maybe this. Our study it as concluded that Anemia, a prevalent disease, during pregnancy is the cause of dyspnea and can be easily diagnosed and treated.