Peripartum cardiomyopathy : three years study in basrah General Hospital

Abstract EN

Peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCMP) is a rare type of dilated cardiomyopathy, of unknown cause and occurs in peripartum period in apreviously healthy women.

We tried to verify its incidence among other CMP, to analyze its presentations, and to look for the risk group.

Patients either in the last month of pregnancy or recently delivered with clinically unexplained congestive heart failure were studied.

Four criteria had been utilized for the diagnosis of PPCM: 1-development of cardiac failure in the last month of pregnancy or within 5 months of delivery, 2-absence of an identifiable cause for the cardiac failure, 3-absence of recognizable heart disease prior to the last month of pregnancy, 4- left ventricular systolic dysfunction proved by echo study.

PPCMP cases had been studied in a descriptive way and compared with other CMP cases and literature reviewed.

Ten out of 90 cases of heart failure diagnosed to have dilated CMP were of the PPCMP (11.11%) within the 3 years period of the study.

All the cases were multiparoas, with mean age of 37 years.

All the cases gave history of dyspnoea soon after delivery.

The response to therapy was poor in most cases and 4 cases died within 4 months of diagnosis.

PPCMP is not very rare disease, it constituted 11.11% of CMP in our study, it occurred mainly in older multiparous women, most were sub nutritional and it responded only partially to therapy with high mortality rate.