Age-related disparities in complications among women with peripartum cardiomyopathy

While the exact pathogenesis of peripartum cardiomyopathy, a potentially life-threatening condition, is still unknown, its incidence is rising globally. We sought to understand the differences in outcomes and complications based on age.

Records from the 2016-2020 National Inpatient Sample were used for our study. The sample consisted of females diagnosed with peripartum cardiomyopathy that required hospitalization care. They were divided into two age-based cohorts: 15-29 years and 30-40 years. We evaluated differences in in-hospital complications between the two groups using multivariable regression.

The analysis consisted of 20520 females diagnosed with peripartum cardiomyopathy, of whom 57.3 % were in the 30-40 years cohort and 42.7 % in the 15-29 years group. The prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors such as smoking, obesity, hypertension, diabetes and lipid disorder was higher among women aged 30-40 years (p < 0.01). These patients also demonstrated higher odds of reporting acute ischemic stroke (aOR 1.354, 95 % CI 1.038-1.767, p = 0.026) while having a reduced risk of cardiogenic shock (aOR 0.787, 95 % CI 0.688-0.901, p < 0.01) as compared to those aged 15-29 years during their hospitalisation with PPCM. No statistically significant differences were noted for events of acute kidney injury (aOR 1.074, 95 % CI 0.976-1.182, p = 0.143), acute pulmonary oedema (aOR 1.147, 95 % CI 0.988-1.332, p = 0.071) or in-hospital mortality (aOR 0.978, 95 % CI 0.742-1.290, p = 0.877).

Peripartum cardiomyopathy is a serious condition that requires appropriate care and management. Our study linked cases of ages 30-40 years with increased odds of acute ischemic stroke but lower odds of cardiogenic shock.