Do baseline inflammatory markers and NYHA functional class predict mortality in patients with peripartum cardiomyopathy?
Baseline Fas/Apo-1 and higher NYHA functional class are significant predictors of mortality in African patients with peripartum cardiomyopathy, a population with a low rate of LVEF recovery.
Plasma markers of inflammation were significantly elevated and correlated with increased LV dimensions and lower LVEF at presentation. Baseline Fas/Apo-1 and higher NYHA FC were the only predictors of mortality. Normalization of LVEF was only observed in 23% of this African cohort.
Sliwa et al. (2005) studied this question.