Perinatal cardiomyopathy

At the end of the 19th century, unexplained heart failure was found in pregnant women who were healthy before. Most of them have onset of acute heart failure or dilated cardiomyopathy-like changes. The onset time is limited to the last 3 months of pregnancy or 5 months after delivery. There is no previous history of cardiovascular disease. This special heart disease is called Peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM). Ritchie first reported heart failure related to pregnancy in 1849; Virchow specifically described primary cardiomyopathy related to late pregnancy and puerperium in 1870 and has rarely been reported since. Until 1930, Hull and Gouley once again described the heart failure disease with puerperium factors as an important cause, and since then, more cases have been reported in various parts of the world. The name of this disease is more confusing in the past. There are named pregnancy heart disease, heart disease before and after childbirth, postpartum heart disease, postpartum myocarditis, postpartum non-inflammatory heart disease, etc. At present, most scholars think that it is proper to name it perinatal cardiomyopathy. Although clinically uncommon, this disease can directly affect the life safety of mothers and infants, and thus has become one of the issues of great concern in the current obstetric crisis.

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