Usefulness of low-dose combined spinal epidural anesthesia for a woman with systemic lupus erythematosus, mechanical prosthesis in the mitral valve position, and worsening heart failure presenting for cesarean delivery.

A 31-year-old woman, gravida one, para zero, at 32 weeks, 4 days gestation, with a history of antiphospholipid antibody syndrome, mitral valve replacement requiring anticoagulation, chronic diastolic heart failure, and systemic lupus erythematous was admitted to the hospital for worsening cardiac decompensation with superimposed pneumonia. She was on warfarin for anticoagulation at the time of hospital admission and eventually started on an intravenous heparin infusion. Cesarean delivery was planned due to comorbidities and anticoagulation status. After administration of betamethasone for fetal lung maturity, the patient's heparin infusion was discontinued approximately 16 hours prior to cesarean delivery. Upon obtaining laboratory testing that confirmed appropriate coagulation status, a low-dose combined spinal epidural anesthetic technique was used for cesarean delivery and the expected hemodynamic shifts due to spinal anesthesia were mitigated with a prophylactic norepinephrine infusion.