Molecular mechanisms of peripartum cardiomyopathy: a vascular/hormonal hypothesis
Peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) is characterized by the development of systolic heart
failure in the last month of pregnancy or within the first 5 months postpartum. The disease
affects between 1: 300 and 1: 3000 births worldwide. Heart failure can resolve
spontaneously but often does not. Mortality rates, like incidence, vary widely based on
location, ranging from 0% to 25%. The consequences of PPCM are thus often devastating
for an otherwise healthy young woman and her newborn. The cause of PPCM remains …
failure in the last month of pregnancy or within the first 5 months postpartum. The disease
affects between 1: 300 and 1: 3000 births worldwide. Heart failure can resolve
spontaneously but often does not. Mortality rates, like incidence, vary widely based on
location, ranging from 0% to 25%. The consequences of PPCM are thus often devastating
for an otherwise healthy young woman and her newborn. The cause of PPCM remains …