Variation in Outcome Reporting in Cardiac Arrhythmias and Aortopathies in Pregnancy [17K]

INTRODUCTION: Variation in outcome reporting undermines the usefulness of research as comparisons cannot be drawn when definitions are not standardized. This study aimed to review outcomes reported in studies on pregnant women with cardiac arrhythmias and aortopathies, with a view to developing a core outcome set for future studies in this area. METHODS: A search strategy was designed for MEDLINE, Embase and Cochrane Central databases from 1980 to 2015 to identify studies in pregnant women with arrhythmias and aortopathies. Two reviewers independently assessed titles and abstracts and discrepancies were reviewed by a third reviewer for the final decision on inclusion. RESULTS: After removing duplicates, 3118 titles and abstracts were reviewed and 485 articles involving pregnant women with congenital or acquired cardiac disease were identified. Of these, there were 12 studies on aortopathies and ten on arrhythmias. Overall, 77 outcomes were listed in the arrhythmia group, the most common being: cardiac event (7), syncope (4) and spontaneous abortion (3); 83 outcomes were used in studies on aortopathies, preterm delivery (8), increase in aortic root diameter (6), and abortion (6) being the three most common. The definition of outcomes differed significantly between studies. CONCLUSION: A large number of inconsistently reported outcomes were identified in studies involving pregnant women with arrhythmias and aortopathies. A core outcome set for cardiac disease in pregnancy, in particularly arrhythmias and aortopathies is in the process of being developed for international use in clinical and research settings.