title: Beware Postpartum Shortness of Breath.
abstract: Peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) is one of the potentially life-threatening complications of pregnancy. We report a case of a 36-year-old female patient who presented with shortness of breath, swelling of feet after giving birth to triplets, and her tests revealed that left ventricle is dilated with its diameter on the borderline and she had EF 35% with advanced systolic dysfunction. Anterior wall and septum were severely hypokinetic. In the presence of these findings, the patient was evaluated as PPCM. PPCM must be considered in the differential diagnosis of a patient presenting with shortness of breath and swelling of feet, which are also common in pregnancy.
authors.affiliation: Guleser Akpinar, MD, Department of Emergency Medicine, Sisli Hamidiye Etfal Training & Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Guleser
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Akpinar
authors.affiliation: Afsin Ipekci, MD, Department of Emergency Medicine, Cerrahpasa Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Afsin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ipekci
authors.affiliation: Bedia Gulen, MD, Department of Emergency Medicine, Bezmialem University School of Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Bedia
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gulen
authors.affiliation: Ibrahim Ikizceli, MD, Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, Sisli Hamidiye Etfal Education & Training Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ibrahim
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ikizceli
keywords: Cardiomyopathy; Heart failure; Peripartum cardiomyopathy