Labor and vaginal delivery with maternal aortic aneurysm.

Abstract

Maternal aortic aneurysm can be an unsettling finding for the practicing obstetrician. However, thoracic surgeons generally do not treat asymptomatic aortic aneurysms that are less than 6 cm in diameter in otherwise healthy adults. A young nullipara was incidentally found to have a 4.5-cm thoracic aortic aneurysm during prenatal care. After extensive counseling and discussions with thoracic surgeons, anesthesiologists, and perinatologists, the patient requested a trial of labor and underwent an uncomplicated assisted vaginal delivery of a healthy female infant. A vaginal delivery occurred safely in a woman with an asymptomatic aortic aneurysm that was less than 6 cm in diameter and not associated with Marfan's syndrome.