Re: post-partum cardiomyopathy

Posted By CCF CARDIO MD-APS on April 05, 1999 at 13:33:48:

In Reply to: post-partum cardiomyopathy posted by juliah on April 02, 1999 at 22:45:28:






I am 10 months postpartum and have been having trouble with shortness of breath and chest pain since I was about 8 months pregnant. I have MVP and the cardiologist indicated to me today that he believes I have postpartum cardiomyopathy. He did not put me on any medication and told me to return in 6 months. I am concerned and am wondering if I should get a second opinion. I was also told by a pulmonologist recently that I have mild restrictive lung disease. Are these 2 conditions related? Will I be able to carry a pregnancy to term without complications in the future? Should I be on medication? Thank you, Julie




Dear Juliah,
Although post partum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) usually gets better on its own, this does not mean it requires no medications/treatment. Certainly it requires close follow-up, ESPECIALLY in the symptomatic patient(short of breath), the patient with other disease (MVP and mild restrictive lung disease in your case), and in the patient who wants to get pregnant again.  
The mild lung disease is not related directly to the PPCM.
So ABSOLUTELY, GET ANOTHER OPINION, and you want to know specifics like:
1.How much of the shortness of breath is from the PPCM?
2.What is your ejection fraction (EF=amount of blood ejected with each beat of the heart, normal is 55%?)
3.How bad is the MVP? is there any mitral regurgitation? and if so is this somehow responsible and not the pregnancy???????
4. Is the EF bad enough to warrant drug therapy until an expected recovery.
Women who truly have PPCM are at greater risk than the general population to get it with subsequent pregnancies, however it is still a small risk.  Once you have a definitive diagnosis and treatment plan, you can discuss this with the cardiologist who is treating you.
I hope this information is useful. Information provided in the heart forum is for
general purposes only.  Only your physician can provided specific diagnoses and therapies.
Feel free to write back with further questions. Good luck!
If you would like to make an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center, please
call 1-800-CCF-CARE or inquire online by using the Heart Center website at
www.ccf.org/heartcenter. The Heart Center website contains a directory of the
cardiology staff that can be used to select the physician best suited to address your cardiac problem.  Heart failure doctors at the Cleveland Clinic, to name a few are Drs. Rodkey, Haas, Young, Starling, Hobbs, and Francis.