Peripartum cardiomyopathy complicating severe aortic stenosis.
A 30-year-old woman presented with cardiac failure caused by severe aortic stenosis and biopsy proven myocarditis 4 weeks after an uneventful pregnancy. The course of the myocarditis was followed and predicted by serial endomyocardial biopsies. Our experience suggests that peripartum cardiomyopathy should never be ignored as a cause of cardiac disease in the puerperium even when there is another, more obvious, pathology and we report the efficacy of serial transvenous cardiac biopsies in timing aortic valve replacement in this patient.
Purcell
I F
IF
Department of Cardiology, Freeman Hospital, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK.
Williams
D O
DO
D000328:Adult; D001024:Aortic Valve Stenosis / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D001706:Biopsy; D002303:Cardiac Output, Low / Q000209:etiology*; D009202:Cardiomyopathies / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006350:Heart Valve Prosthesis; D006439:Hemodynamics; D006801:Humans; D009205:Myocarditis / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D011247:Pregnancy; D011249:Pregnancy Complications, Cardiovascular / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D011644:Puerperal Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000628:therapy; D013997:Time Factors; D016277:Ventricular Function, Left