Echocardiographic differences between preeclampsia and peripartum cardiomyopathy

The Role of Multimodality Cardiovascular Imaging in Peripartum Cardiomyopathy

“…It provides real-time information on atrioventricular size and function, valvular apparatus, and other cardiac structures and forms the first-line imaging modality for the evaluation of pregnant women with suspected CVDs (6). Echocardiography plays a key role in the differential diagnosis between PPCM and other pregnancy-related cardiac diseases such as preeclampsia (25), in which LV systolic function is mostly unaffected, valvular heart diseases (VHDs), and congenital heart diseases (CHDs), and enables long-term monitoring of cardiac function (26) ( Table 2). Although LV systolic dysfunction is observed in the vast majority of PPCM patients, as reduced LVEF is a major criterion for the diagnosis (5), several studies reported unexplained HF with preserved LVEF in peripartum women, suggesting the possibility of progressive myocardial disease development across different clinical stages (27)(28)(29) and raising the challenge for early diagnosis.…”

Reverse Apical Ballooning Echocardiographic Pattern in Eclampsia-Related Cardiomyopathy

“…[12][13][14] Classic peripartum cardiomyopathy, pre-eclampsia, and our patient's eclampsia-related stress-induced cardiomyopathy demonstrate different echocardiographic findings. In classic peripartum cardiomyopathy, the LV is generally dilated and global LV dysfunction usually predominates.…”

“…Our patient's echocardiogram findings also differed from cardiomyopathy of pre-eclampsia, in which diastolic dysfunction with preserved LVEF predominates. 12 Prognosis for recovery is also different between the 2 entities. In classic peripartum cardiomyopathy, LV recovery occurs in approximately 50% of patients, generally within 6 months after diagnosis.…”

Peripartum Cardiomyopathy (PPCM): Dual Case Report and Review of Literatures

“…Other studies showed a much higher mortality rate such as 15% or 32% at 6 months [24]. Survivors of PPCM have 30 % risk of relapse [4] and significant decrease of left ventricular function [25] in subsequent pregnancies with reported 55% mortality and morbidity rates associated with recurrence in subsequent pregnancy [26]. One explanation would be that patients who entered the subsequent pregnancy with abnormal systolic function, without making a complete recovery from the first PPCM in prior pregnancy [27].…”