Shortness of Breath During Pregnancy: Could a Cardiac Factor Be Involved?

Background Shortness of breath (SOB) is common among healthy women with normal pregnancies. However, when no overt cardiac or extra cardiac etiology is found, a subtle cardiac source must be excluded. Hypothesis Pregnancy may induce or unmask myocardial dysfunction that may cause SOB. Methods Healthy pregnant women with significant SOB were recruited for this study. We performed a comprehensive echocardiographic assessment including tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) and 2‐ dimensional strain imaging (2DS). The echocardiographic data obtained were compared with that of a control group of pregnant women without SOB. Results Thirty pregnant women with SOB were enrolled in the study (age, 31.8 ± 4.9 years, and gestation, 38.2 ± 2.8 weeks) for whom no overt etiology for SOB was detected. Patients with SOB compared with controls had thicker hearts (septum: 10.1 ± 1.1 vs 8.9 ± 0.9 mm; P