MINI REVIEW article
Front. Cardiovasc. Med.
Sec. Hypertension
Coronary Microvascular Dysfunction in Pregnancy: Time to Pay Closer Attention?
Eirini Beneki 1,2
Nikolaos Pyrpyris 1
Athanasios Sakalidis 1
Eirini Dri 1
Panayiotis Iliakis 1
Theodoros Mprotsis 1,3
Aggelos Papanikolaou 1
Konstantinos Aznaouridis 1
Kyriakos Dimitriadis 1
KONSTANTINOS P. TSIOUFIS 1
Constantina Aggeli 1
1. National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
2. Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois Service de cardiologie, Lausanne, Switzerland
3. Panepistemio Thessalias Tmema Iatrikes, Larissa, Greece
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Abstract
Coronary microvascular dysfunction (CMD) is increasingly recognized as a significant cardiovascular condition, particularly among women, yet its diagnosis and management during pregnancy remain poorly understood. CMD may arise de novo in the context of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy or represent an exacerbation of pre-existing endothelial dysfunction. This article views current evidence surrounding CMD in pregnancy, outlines the limitations of current diagnostic and treatment approaches, and highlights critical research gaps that must be addressed to improve outcomes in this vulnerable population.
Summary
Keywords
Adverse pregnancy outcomes, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, cardiovascular imaging, Coronary microvascular dysfunction, Echocardiography, gestational diabetes, Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, Preeclampsia
Received
28 October 2025
Accepted
16 January 2026
Copyright
© 2026 Beneki, Pyrpyris, Sakalidis, Dri, Iliakis, Mprotsis, Papanikolaou, Aznaouridis, Dimitriadis, TSIOUFIS and Aggeli. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Nikolaos Pyrpyris
Disclaimer
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.