Maternal and Fetal Outcomes of Subsequent Pregnancies in Women with Peripartum Cardiomyopathy

Background Peripartum cardiomyopathy is a rare but sometimes fatal form of heart failure. Little is known about the outcomes of subsequent pregnancies in women who have had the disorder. Methods Through a survey of members of the American College of Cardiology, we identified 44 women who had had peripartum cardiomyopathy and had a total of 60 subsequent pregnancies. We then reviewed the medical records of these women and interviewed the women or their physicians. Results Among the first subsequent pregnancies in the 44 women, 28 occurred in women in whom left ventricular function had returned to normal (group 1) and 16 occurred in women with persistent left ventricular dysfunction (group 2). The pregnancies were associated with a reduction in the mean (±SD) left ventricular ejection fraction both in the total cohort (from 49±12 percent to 42±13 percent, P<0.001) and in each group separately (from 56±7 percent to 49±10 percent in group 1, P=0.002; and from 36±9 percent to 32±11 percent in group 2, P=0.08)....