title: Brief communication: Outcomes of subsequent pregnancy after peripartum cardiomyopathy: a case series from Haiti.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Maternal risks with pregnancies after an index diagnosis of peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) are inadequately understood.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To describe the clinical outcomes of subsequent pregnancy in Haitian women with PPCM.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospectively identified cases from a defined population base, 2000-2005.
  
  
  METHODS
  Hôpital Albert Schweitzer, Deschapelles, Haiti.
  
  
  METHODS
  15 patients with PPCM and subsequent pregnancies among 99 prospectively identified patients with PPCM.
  
  
  METHODS
  Clinical and echocardiographic parameters.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fifteen women with PPCM had 16 subsequent pregnancies after the index pregnancies. Eight of these patients experienced worsening heart failure; of these, 1 died and 1 regained normal left ventricular systolic function. Seven patients tolerated pregnancy without worsening heart failure, and ventricular function recovered in these patients within 30 months after the subsequent pregnancy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results may not apply to non-Haitian women, and power was insufficient to identify factors that might predict recovery (n = 15).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Half of the women with subsequent pregnancy after PPCM experienced worsening heart failure and long-term systolic dysfunction, while the other half experienced no deterioration and regained normal left ventricular systolic function.
authors.affiliation: Hôpital Albert Schweitzer, Deschapelles, Haiti.
authors.forename: James D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Fett
authors.forename: Len G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Christie
authors.forename: Joseph G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Murphy
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D009202:Cardiomyopathies / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006205:Haiti; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D011249:Pregnancy Complications, Cardiovascular / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011644:Puerperal Disorders / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D012307:Risk Factors; D014463:Ultrasonography; D018487:Ventricular Dysfunction, Left / Q000503:physiopathology