Pregnancy-Related Heart Failure
March 15, 2007 by Lei
Filed under Diseases & Conditions
Pregnancy is a time of happiness but also a time of physical stress. A form of dilated cardiomyopathy, peripartum cardiomyopathy, can manifest in pregnant women during the final month of pregnancy or within 5 months after delivery.
Symptoms include:
- Shortness of breath
- Fatigue
- Swelling of the ankles
- Increased night-time urination
- Heart palpitations
Treatment is readily available with some requiring medication and others heart transplants. As many as one-quarter to one-half of women with peripartum cardiomyopathy may eventually die from heart failure. The disease usually recurs with each pregnancy.
KUTV.com has a story on peripartum cardiomyopathy featuring Kristina Moore who has recovered since giving birth to her daughter two years ago. And I wonder if peripartum cardiomyopathy might have been involved in the death of a 40-year-old Israeli mother who died almost immediately after giving birth to her 13th child.
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Tags: peripartum cardiomyopathy, pregnancy, heart, heart disease, heart failure, diseases, illness, health, kristina moore, medicine
