Subsequent Pregnancy Outcomes in Patients With Peripartum Cardiomyopathy

To describe cardiac and obstetric outcomes in subsequent pregnancies of patients with peripartum cardiomyopathy and to report demographic and clinical characteristics of index pregnancies.

We conducted a retrospective cohort study of all pregnant patients with prior peripartum cardiomyopathy seen at the Mayo Clinic from January 2000 through March 2017. Maternal and neonatal outcome data of index and all subsequent pregnancies were abstracted, and all echocardiography examinations were individually reviewed.

Twenty-five patients with prior peripartum cardiomyopathy were included; all except one had recovered left ventricular (LV) function (LV ejection fraction 50% or greater) before the subsequent pregnancy. Forty-three subsequent pregnancies were identified: six (14.0%) miscarriages, four (9.3%) terminations, and 33 (76.7%) live births. The rate of peripartum cardiomyopathy relapse was 20.9%; median LV ejection fraction nadir in patients with relapse was 43% (range 35-45%). None had LV ejection fraction decline to the level of their index pregnancy. No cardiac arrests or deaths were observed, and all patients with relapse recovered LV function. Median gestational age at delivery for all live births in subsequent pregnancies was 39.0 weeks (range 36 6/7-41 3/7 weeks).

Patients with a history of peripartum cardiomyopathy who recover LV function are at risk for a transient minor decrease in LV ejection fraction during future pregnancies, but obstetric and neonatal outcomes are often favorable.