Coronary embolus complicating peripartum cardiomyopathy

Peripartum cardiomyopathy is a rare disorder in which heart failure occurs during the last month of pregnancy or within 5 months of delivery, in the absence of any other etiology or prior heart disease. We present the case of a 42-year-old woman with peripartum cardiomyopathy. She was admitted with an acute myocardial infarction. Multiple mobile ventricular thrombi were seen in the echocardiogram. Coronary angiogram showed consequential coronary embolus occluding the left anterior descending artery. A successful embolectomy was performed followed by coronary stenting. There have been only two reports in the medical literature of coronary embolic events in the setting of peripartum cardiomyopathy; however, to our knowledge, we believe our case is the first to describe coronary intervention as treatment for the event.