A 35-year-old woman was 38 weeks pregnant with twins (G3P2). She developed an acute onset of shortness of breath and hemoptysis (coughing up blood). Shortly after hospital arrival she experienced a respiratory and cardiac arrest. CPR was administered, and she successfully regained a pulse. She was then rushed to the operating room for emergency C-section.
Two infants were delivered stillborn, with Apgar scores of 0 at 1, 5, and 10 minutes. The patient was transferred to the ICU with hypoxic encephalopathy; she eventually recovered. History: The patient had a history of chronic hypertension, which had worsened during her third trimester; it had been managed by increasing the dose of her chronic antihypertensive medication (labetalol). A few weeks prior to admission, after the patient complained of shortness of breath, her obstetrician prescribed her albuterol. Two days prior to…
