CHI professors present at the Cardiovascular Society of Mauritius conference on Heart Diseases in pregnancy
The Cardiovascular Society of Mauritius organized their annual conference with a dedicated focus on women, pregnancy, and congenital heart disease at the Sugar Beach Conference Centre in Mauritius from April 24-22, 2024. The two-day event was oversubscribed but could accommodate more than 200 participants from a wide range of disciplines including, beside cardiologists and gynecologists, radiologists, surgeons, nurses, and social workers. The president of the society-Dr Sanjay Bucktowar, Dr S.K. Deenoo with support of the society leadership organized an exciting program.
The Minister of Health and Wellbeing of Mauritius, Dr Kailesh Jagutpal opened the conference and presented an overview of the health situation of Mauritius: an island with 1.2 million inhabitants served by 60 cardiologists. Mauritius has universal health care and maternal mortality due to direct and indirect causes has declined over the last 30 years. However, more than 40% of the population is overweight or obese and, in the age group of 30-34 years, almost 50% are smokers. In a focused discussion with key leaders of the Mauritian Cardiac Society and visiting speakers, Dr Jagutpal emphasized the need for better multidisciplinary care for maternal health and the need for focused data collection in the form of registries.
Prof. Blanche Cupido (Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town) covered topics from pre-conception counselling to appropriate imaging and managing of complex cases with congenital heart disease. Prof. Karen Sliwa (Cape Heart Institute, Cape Town) covered topics on risk-stratification of high-risk pregnancy and the difficult decision-making in termination for medical reasons as well as the management of heart failure in women. Her presentation on ‘how to become a female leader in cardiology’ sparked intensive debate and discussion. Dr Makoonlall (Port Louis, Mauritius) gave an excellent overview on hypertensive disorders of pregnancy.
The conference ended with a workshop devoted to planning a strategy to improve surveillance of cardiac complications in pregnancy and create a dedicated management plan. It was supported by the Mauritian Cardiac Society and key leaders in Gynecology and Obstetrics from Mauritius. It was decided to promote a prospective data-entry-platform of all cases with suspected cardiac conditions in pregnancy. Furthermore, a dedicated combined multidisciplinary monthly cardiac obstetric clinic was agreed upon.
