Peripartum cardiomyopathy is a form of systolic heart failure affecting young women near or after delivery, requiring careful medical management to ensure fetal safety.
Peripartum cardiomyopathy is a form of systolic heart failure requiring prompt echocardiographic diagnosis and tailored medical management to ensure maternal and fetal safety.
Peripartum cardiomyopathy is a form of systolic heart failure affecting young women toward the end of pregnancy or in the months following delivery. Incidence is higher in African-American women and in women with older maternal age, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, and multiple gestation pregnancies. Symptoms of heart failure mimic those of normal pregnancy, often resulting in a delay in diagnosis and preventable complications. Echocardiography showing decreased myocardial function is essential for the diagnosis. Medical management is similar to heart failure with reduced ejection fraction of other etiologies, but adjustments during pregnancy are necessary to ensure fetal safety. Variable outcomes include complete recovery, persistent heart failure, arrhythmias, thromboembolic events, and death. Subsequent pregnancy confers substantial risk of relapse and even death if there is incomplete myocardial recovery. Additional research about the etiology, optimal therapy including the use of bromocriptine, long-term outcomes, and duration of treatment after recovery are needed.
Davis et al. (Wed,) conducted a review in Peripartum cardiomyopathy. Peripartum cardiomyopathy is a form of systolic heart failure affecting young women near or after delivery, requiring careful medical management to ensure fetal safety.