Immunosuppression therapy in the management of peripartum cardiomyopathy: A case series and literature review.
Peripartum cardiomyopathy is a heart failure syndrome occurring late in pregnancy or during the early post-natal period. The pathophysiology of peripartum cardiomyopathy is not fully understood and various mechanisms have been postulated including an underlying inflammatory process. We here report four cases presenting with acute left ventricular systolic dysfunction. Three out of four of the patients presented with a left ventricular ejection fraction <30% and one with a left ventricular ejection fraction of 35%. All made a full clinical recovery following treatment with high-dose intravenous steroids. This case series adds to the growing body of evidence for the role for immunosuppressants in the management of peripartum cardiomyopathy.
Department of Cardiology, The Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust, Reading, UK.
Joyee
J
Basu
Nuffield Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Christopher
C
Redman
Department of Cardiology, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust, Oxford, UK.
Oliver
O
Ormerod
Immunology; cardiology