Cheng X, Yin XL, Shan YQ, Wang SY, Xia YB, Xu B, Xu TC. Navigating heart failure medications in obstetric practice. World J Obstet Gynecol 2025; 14(3): 112710 [DOI: 10.5317/wjog.v14.i3.112710]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Tian-Cheng Xu, MD, PhD, Professor, Key Laboratory of Acupuncture and Medicine Research of Ministry of Education, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, No. 138 Xianlin Avenue, Qixia District, Nanjing 210023, Jiangsu Province, China. xtc@njucm.edu.cn
Research Domain of This Article
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Article-Type of This Article
Minireviews
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Xin Cheng, Xing-Lei Yin, Shuai-Yan Wang, You-Bing Xia, Bin Xu, Tian-Cheng Xu, Key Laboratory of Acupuncture and Medicine Research of Ministry of Education, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210023, Jiangsu Province, China
Ya-Qi Shan, School of Stomatology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 211166, Jiangsu Province, China
Co-first authors: Xin Cheng and Xing-Lei Yin.
Co-corresponding authors: Bin Xu and Tian-Cheng Xu.
Author contributions: Cheng X and Yin XL conceived the study framework and provided critical revisions as the co-first authors of the paper; Shan YQ created graphical abstracts and visualization diagrams; Wang SY polished the manuscript; Xia YB, Xu B and Xu TC performed final manuscript review and analysis; Xu B and Xu TC have played important and indispensable roles in manuscript preparation as the co-corresponding authors; all authors participated in iterative draft revisions and approved the submitted version.
Supported by National Key R and D Program of China, No. 2022YFC3500704; National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 82305376; Project of Supporting Young Scientific and Technological Talents in Jiangsu Province in 2024, No. JSTJ-2024-380; and College Students' Innovative Entrepreneurial Training Plan Program, No. 202310315029Z.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest associated with the publication of this manuscript.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Tian-Cheng Xu, MD, PhD, Professor, Key Laboratory of Acupuncture and Medicine Research of Ministry of Education, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, No. 138 Xianlin Avenue, Qixia District, Nanjing 210023, Jiangsu Province, China. xtc@njucm.edu.cn
Received: August 4, 2025 Revised: August 29, 2025 Accepted: November 20, 2025 Published online: December 18, 2025 Processing time: 134 Days and 23.3 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Heart failure (HF) in pregnancy poses significant maternal and fetal risks, exacerbated by physiological adaptations and underlying cardiac conditions. This mini-review delineates the pathophysiology, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacological management of pregnancy-related HF, emphasizing the safety and efficacy of medications like beta-blockers, diuretics, and digoxin. Concurrently, it categorically outlines contraindicated medications, including renin-angiotensin system inhibitors (angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin II type 1 receptor blockers), angiotensin receptor-neprilysin inhibitors, and mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists due to their potential teratogenic effects. It highlights multidisciplinary care models and the need for further research to optimize therapeutic strategies and improve maternal-fetal outcomes.
