Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36053884›Full record

ArticleTropical medicine & international health : TM & IH2022

Experiences of a dedicated Heart and Maternal Health Service providing multidisciplinary care to pregnant women with cardiac disease in a tertiary centre in Namibia.

Steffie Heemelaar, Ndatiyaroo Agapitus, Thomas van den Akker, Jelle Stekelenburg, Shonag Mackenzie, Christopher Hugo-Hamman, Tangeni Auala

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Tropical medicine & international health : TM & IH, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
0.8field-weighted citation impact, top 26% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.

Steffie HeemelaarDepartment of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Windhoek Central Hospital, Windhoek, Namibia.
Ndatiyaroo AgapitusDepartment of Cardiology, Windhoek Central Hospital, Windhoek, Namibia.
Thomas van den AkkerDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Jelle StekelenburgDepartment of Health Sciences, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Shonag MackenzieDepartment of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Windhoek Central Hospital, Windhoek, Namibia.
Christopher Hugo-HammanDepartment of Cardiology, Windhoek Central Hospital, Windhoek, Namibia.
Tangeni AualaDepartment of Cardiology, Windhoek Central Hospital, Windhoek, Namibia.
National Art Gallery of Namibia · NALeiden University · NLMedisch Centrum Leeuwarden · NLNamibia Institute of Pathology · NA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesFirst, to describe the implementation process, benefits and challenges of a multidisciplinary service for pregnant women with cardiac disease in Namibia. Second, to assess pregnancy outcomes in this population.

methodsIn a tertiary hospital in Namibia, a multidisciplinary service was implemented by staff of obstetric and cardiology departments and included preconception counselling, provision of antenatal care and reliable contraception. Management guidelines developed for high-income settings were used, since no locally adapted guidelines were available. A cohort study was performed to assess cardiac, obstetric and fetal outcomes. Included were pregnant women with cardiac disease, referred to this service between 1 August 2016 and 31 July 2018.

resultsImportant benefits of this service were the integrated approach, improved access to reliable contraception and insight into drivers of poor outcome. Several challenges with use of available guidelines were encountered, as contextual factors specific to lower-income settings were not taken into consideration, such as higher rates of infection or barriers to access care. The cohort consisted of 65 women. Cardiac disease was diagnosed for the first time in 16 (24.6%) women, of whom 11 had pre-existing cardiac disease. These women presented more often with heart failure than women with known heart disease (75.0% vs. 6.1%, RR 12.5, 95% CI 3.9-38.0). Five women died. Cardiac events occurred in twenty-two women of whom eight developed thromboembolic events and two endocarditis. The majority had no indication for prophylaxis, based on available guidelines. Fetal events occurred in 36 pregnancies. After pregnancy more than half of women (35/65, 53.8%) were using long-acting reversible contraception.

conclusionsDespite several barriers, it was possible to implement a multidisciplinary service in a high-burden setting. Cardiac and fetal event rates in this cohort were high. To improve outcomes the focus should be on availability of context-specific guidelines and better detection of cardiac disease.

Indexed as

Heart DiseasesMaternal Health ServicesCohort StudiesFemaleHumansNamibiaPregnancyPregnancy OutcomePregnant Peoplecardiac disease in pregnancycardiomyopathymaternal mortalityNamibiapregnancy complicationsrheumatic heart diseasesub-Saharan Africa

Identifiers

PMID36053884
PMCPMC9543594
OpenAlexW4289519677

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.