title: Risk of subsequent pregnancy in women with a history of peripartum cardiomyopathy.
abstract: Peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) is a pregnancy-associated myocardial disease with marked left ventricular systolic dysfunction. Although this condition can lead to major complications, including severe heart failure, arrhythmias, thromboembolic events, and death, the majority of women with this condition demonstrate a complete or partial recovery. Many of these women desire to become pregnant again and are concerned regarding the safety of additional pregnancies. The purpose of this paper is to review the available information related to subsequent pregnancies in women with a history of PPCM in an attempt to reach conclusions regarding the risk of such pregnancies in this group of patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California. Electronic address: elkayam@usc.edu.
authors.forename: Uri
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Elkayam
mesh_terms: D009202:Cardiomyopathies / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D014943:Global Health; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D058725:Peripartum Period; D011247:Pregnancy; D011249:Pregnancy Complications, Cardiovascular / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D018487:Ventricular Dysfunction, Left / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology
keywords: cardiomyopathies; cardiovascular; left ventricular dysfunction; peripartum period; pregnancy complications