Respiratory failure in pregnancy

Breathing for two: pregnancy, asthma and respiratory failure.

Most women will happily swallow vitamins or iron supplements prescribed by their doctor during pregnancy and feel that these help build a strong baby, but are very reluctant to use other medications, and feel that these will jeopardise their fetus and produce congenital abnormalities. So, most expectant mothers will opt to forego medications they need, believing that this will be best for their...

Respiratory disease in pregnancy

Respiratory physiology in pregnancy.

Pregnancy induces marked changes in the respiratory and cardiovascular systems that are essential for meeting the increased metabolic demands of the mother and fetus. Important respiratory system changes occur in the upper airway, chest wall, static lung volumes, and ventilation and gas exchange. Marked cardiovascular changes also occur during pregnancy including increased plasma volume, increa...

Respiratory Physiology in Pregnancy

Pregnancy is a normal but altered physiologic state that results in significant hormonal,mechanical, and circulatory changes. The increases in progesterone and estrogen associated with pregnancy contribute to vascular and central nervous system effects, changes in the balance of bronchoconstrictor and bronchodilator prostanoids, and increases in peptide hormones that alter connective tissue cha...

Hypercapnic respiratory failure during pregnancy due to polymyositis-related respiratory muscle weakness: a case report

BACKGROUND Polymyositis is a rare medical disorder complicating pregnancy. Ventilatory muscle weakness leading to respiratory failure is an uncommon manifestation of this autoimmune disease. We report a case of life-threatening hypercapnic respiratory failure due to polymyositis-related respiratory muscle weakness in a pregnant woman. CASE PRESENTATION A 31-year-old, African woman in her seco...