Peripartum cardiomyopathy: Case report and review of literature

Abstract

Peripartum cardiomyopathy is a rare form of cardiomyopathy of unknown etiology that is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. It is characterized by the presentation of heart failure that starts a month before or within five months after delivery secondary to impaired left ventricular function in previously healthy women. The diagnosis can be made in the absence of other demonstrable cause. Case presentation: a 35 years old patient, with a background of one pregnancy and one cesarean delivery, who during her pregnancy developed pre-eclampsia, with no other known pathological history, she started with clinical symptoms of heart failure one and a half month after her delivery, she underwent an echocardiogram that reported severe dilated cardiomyopathy, she was given management for heart failure and was discharged five days later with good clinical response to diuretics and beta blockers at low doses. Conclusion: peripartum cardiomyopathy is a disease underdiagnosed; the importance of the diagnosis lies in the prognosis of subsequent pregnancies, in which recurrence can occur even in patients with apparent recovery.