PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Krejci, Jan
AU  - Hude, Petr
AU  - Spinarova, Lenka
AU  - Zampachova, Vita
AU  - Sirotkova, Alzbeta
AU  - Freiberger, Tomas
AU  - Nemcova, Eva
AU  - Vitovec, Jiri
TI  - The variable clinical course of peripartum cardiomyopathy
DP  - 2014 Apr 1
TA  - Biomedical papers
PG  - 092--097
VI  - 158
IP  - 1
AID - 10.5507/bp.2012.080
IS  - 12138118
AB  - Background: In Europe, peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) is a rare disorder, often difficult to diagnose and it has a variable clinical course. The aim of this report was to describe and discuss the individual variability of this disorder and its management.
Patients and Methods: Three cases of PPCM manifesting as severe heart failure are compared. Common was the presence of myocardial inflammation detected by endomyocardial biopsy. Different were treatment methods and clinical course. Modern therapeutic concepts such as immunosuppressive therapy and bromocriptin administration are discussed, as well as non-pharmacological approaches.
Conclusion: In the differential diagnostics of dyspnea associated with pregnancy and childbirth, PPCM should be considered. The potentially severe course of the disease requires hospitalization with the possibility of comprehensive heart failure treatment, including non-pharmacological approaches such as device therapy and heart transplantation.