Relationship between mitral valve regurgitant flow and peripartum change in systemic vascular resistance.

Mitral regurgitation is usually tolerated well in pregnancy, mainly because of left ventricular unloading due to the physiologic decrease in systemic vascular resistance (SVR). We report the case of a patient with mitral regurgitation who had pulmonary edema soon after delivery, which likely was due to a sudden increase in SVR. The sudden changes in SVR should be added to the differential diagnosis when pulmonary edema occurs after delivery in patients with mitral regurgitation.