Data analysis. The data were analyzed to evaluate maternal as well as fetal outcome. Criteria for maternal outcome included: 1) change in New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class; 2) new onset of congestive heart
failure (CHF); 3) hospitalizations not related to labor and delivery; 4) new onset or exacerbation of arrhythmias; 5)
need either to initiate or enhance dose of cardiac medications;and 6) mode of delivery. Criteria for fetal outcomeincluded: 1) preterm labor, 2) stillbirth, and 3) birth weight. Comparisons of baseline characteristics and the criteria evaluated for maternal and fetal outcome between patients with valvular disease and controls were performed using the two-tailed Fisher exact test. Patients’ ages, duration of pregnancy and neonatal birth weights were compared with the use of a nonpaired t test. All values were presented as mean 6 SD. Statistical significance was accepted at the 95% confidence level (p , 0.05).