Frequency of Peripartum Cardiomyopathy Among Women With Idiopathic Dilated Cardiomyopathy

Among women with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (IDC), the percent who develop heart failure (HF) in the peripartum period (during pregnancy or within 6 months of parturition) compared with those women who develop HF outside the peripartum period is unclear. We studied 72 women with IDC who underwent orthotopic heart transplantation for severe HF, the onset of which was in the peripartum period in 8 (11%) and outside the period in 64 (89%). Comparison of many clinical and morphologic variables between these 2 groups showed significant differences only in the ages of onset of HF, age when orthotopic heart transplantation was performed, and the frequency of the presence of diabetes mellitus. Examination of the hearts in the 2 groups disclosed no significant differences. Thus, separation of the peripartum IDC cases from the nonperipartum IDC cases by either clinical or cardiac morphologic variables is difficult.