Why the study?
Lupus myocarditis and peripartum cardiomyopathy can both present with acute heart failure symptoms during the peripartum period, causing diagnostic uncertainty where accurate recognition is crucial due to therapeutic implications and high mortality risk if misdiagnosed.
Lupus myocarditis should be considered in the differential diagnosis of peripartum cardiomyopathy in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, as it requires specific immunosuppressive therapy.
May aid differentiation of lupus myocarditis from peripartum cardiomyopathy in SLE; hypothesis-generating and requires validation in prospective cohorts.
Lupus myocarditis and peripartum cardiomyopathy can both present with acute heart failure symptoms during the peripartum period, leading to diagnostic uncertainty. Accurate and timely recognition of lupus myocarditis is crucial due to its therapeutic implications and high mortality risk if misdiagnosed. This case report presents a 34-year-old female patient with systemic lupus erythematosus who presented to the emergency department 1 week postpartum with palpitations. In the presence of cardiac enzymes and a low ejection fraction on echocardiography, the patient was initially diagnosed with peripartum cardiomyopathy and subsequently accepted as lupus myocarditis due to clinical and laboratory findings suggestive of high systemic lupus erythematosus disease activity. The patient showed clinical improvement after pulse steroid and intravenous immunoglobulin therapy.
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DALKILIÇ et al. (2026) studied this question.
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