Postpartum Cardiomyopathy

Excerpt

Postpartum cardiomyopathy is a rare form of congestive heart failure of unknown etiology. Heart failure in peripartum period was first described in 1849. The current diagnostic criteria for peripartum cardiomyopathy include1. Cardiac failure in a previously healthy woman in the last month of pregnancy or within 5 months of delivery.2. Absence of a determinable etiology for the cardiac failure.3. Absence of demonstrable cardiac disease prior to last month of pregnancy.4. Echocardiographic evidence of diminished left ventricular systolic function.

Its incidence and prevalence are highly variable depending on the race and geographic regions. Its clinical outcome is also diverse from complete recovery to death. Postpartum cardiomyopathy is a diagnosis of exclusion.