Acute pulmonary edema secondary to long-term use of oral ritodrine in'a woman with a triplet pregnancy

Abstract

A 28-year-old primigravida who had taken oral ritodrine for 5 months to stop premature uterine contractions and was admitted in labor in the 33rd week of pregnancy developed acute pulmonary edema after cesarean section. Although parenteral ritodrine is the beta-adrenergic agent used most extensively to treat premature labor, only 1 case of pulmonary edema associated with long-term use of oral ritodrine had been reported so far. The present report presents for the first time computed tomograpic findings of acute pulmonary edema secondary to tocolytic therapy. (c) 2006 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.