Sequential combined spinal-epidural anesthesia for cesarean section in a woman with a double-outlet right ventricle.

Abstract

The number of women with complex cyanotic heart disease reaching childbearing age is continuously increasing. For anesthesiologists, management of this 'new' obstetric population is particularly challenging. We report the case of a parturient with a palliated double-outlet right ventricle, who underwent a cesarean section at 34 weeks with low-dose sequential combined spinal-epidural anesthesia with patient-controlled epidural postoperative analgesia. Anesthetic considerations and specific limitations of invasive monitoring are discussed, along with a review of recent literature on maternal and neonatal complications associated with pregnancies in women with cyanotic congenital heart disease.