Pregnancy-associated diseases

Although pregnancy is not a disease, this chapter in “Anesthesia and Co-existing Diseases” will discuss some of the conditions associated with pregnancy that can complicate anesthesia care. The discussion starts with a discussion on the anatomic, physiologic and pharmacologic issues that make pregnant patients different, but we will not discuss routine obstetric anesthesia principles or care. We will discuss issues concerning anesthesia for pregnant or breastfeeding women, when the pregnancy or breastfeeding status does function somewhat like a “co-existing disease.” We will then discuss several pathophysiologic conditions that may complicate pregnancy that make the anesthesiologist’s role more complex, including gestational hypertension and preeclampsia/eclampsia, maternal cardiac disease, and obesity, perhaps the most common “co-existing disease” in all patients undergoing anesthesia.