San Diego, April 08, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On the final day of the 37^th Annual International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT) Meeting & Scientific Sessions, members discussed women of reproductive age, who account for over a third of all solid organ transplants. Topics included creating management care teams for patients pre- and post pregnancy, along with educating families about the impact of pregnancy in relation to cardiac health. These discussions took place today during Sunrise Symposium 16: Pregnant – Scared? So Are We…Management of Pregnancy in Our Complex Patients.

Addressing the clinical care of pregnant patients with heart failure and congenital heart disease, presenter Leigh Reardon, MD, University of California at Los Angeles, believes counseling and patient education regarding their reproductive health should start early. The responsibility of care should fall to the pediatric and transitional care teams.  Reardon additionally shared that it’s important to help patients, partners and families understand the unique physiologic effects of pregnancy so they have a better overall picture of how pregnancy integrates into their overall and cardiac health.

Reardon discussed utilizing three validated risk-scoring systems for pregnancy in women.  While the first two, CARPREG and Zahara Risk Score were studied specifically in congenital heart disease, the third, WHO-MOD Risk Score was derived for women with heart disease. Using these risk scoring systems, Reardon hopes it will help care teams and patients to better grasp the impact and risk of a potential or current pregnancy on maternal and fetal health.

“I was delighted to see a symposia addressing many of the complex questions that arise when discussing pregnancy with women who have had transplants,” said ISHLT 37th Annual Meeting and Scientific Sessions Program Chair and Board Member Jeffrey Teuteberg, MD.  “It seems the best approach to caring for these complex issues requires a multidisciplinary team.”

During the same symposium, Mary Canobbio, RN, MN, FAAN, FAHA, of the UCLA School of Nursing, presented information on utilizing a multidisciplinary care approach for pregnancy after transplantation.  Canobbio believes the team should be involved from the very beginning as the patient contemplates pregnancy (pre-conception counseling) and throughout the pregnancy.  Additional nurses and clinicians should be integrated in the multidisciplinary team for patients with heart disease, heart failure and those after heart transplant.

About ISHLT

The International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT) is a not-for-profit professional organization with more than 2,700 members from over 45 countries dedicated to improving the care of patients with advanced heart or lung disease through transplantation, mechanical support and innovative therapies via research, education and advocacy. For more information, visit www.ishlt.org.

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A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d5d08583-98cc-418d-8612-fa75dd0962d1

Stephen Chavez
International Society for Heart & Lung Transplantation
210-310-8215
stephen.d.chavez@gmail.com