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Pregnancy presents a unique hemodynamic challenge to women with cardiovascular disorders of genetic etiology. Many such women undergo decompensation during pregnancy or have acute cardiac events. In addition, there is a risk of transmission of the disease to the fetus, which warrants prenatal testing using invasive and noninvasive means. This article provides an overview of the management issues of these women during pregnancy.

Situs ambiguous comprises of 3% of congenital heart defects and is present in at least 1 in 10,000 live births. Most cases diagnosed prenatally are associated with complex cardiac defects which can be detected by ultrasonography. This is a case report of a fetus presenting with hydrops, which was detected to have situs ambiguous, a complex cardiac defect and multiple laterality defects on autopsy.

This is a case report of a foetus which was brought for postmortem evaluation following antenatal detection of a complex cardiac defect. Presence of dysmorphism and other malformations like gut malrotation, bladder outlet obstruction, and esophageal stenosis led to suspicion of a syndromic diagnosis. Fetal karyotyping confirmed a diagnosis of Trisomy 18 (Edwards syndrome). This facilitated appropriate genetic counseling of the family and guidance for prenatal diagnosis in subsequent pregnancies.