title: Severe postpartum sepsis with prolonged myocardial dysfunction: a case report.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Severe sepsis during pregnancy or in the postpartum period is a rare clinical event. In non obstetric surviving patients, the cardiovascular changes seen in sepsis and septic shock are fully reversible five to ten days after their onset. We report a case of septic myocardial dysfunction lasting longer than ten days. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of prolonged septic myocardial dysfunction in a parturient.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 24 year old Hispanic woman with no previous medical history developed pyelonephritis and severe sepsis with prolonged myocardial dysfunction after a normal spontaneous vaginal delivery.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Septic myocardial dysfunction may be prolonged in parturients requiring longer term follow up and pharmacologic treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology Mount Sinai School of Medicine One Gustave L Levy Place Box 1010 NY, NY 10029 USA. miranda.d.raines@vanderbilt.edu.
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Mazzeffi
authors.forename: Katherine T
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Chen