JOURNAL OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNAECOLOGY, vol.36, no.5, pp.574-580, 2016 (SCI-Expanded)
We conducted this study to determine demographic details, and clinical presentations in patients with peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCMP) of Turkish origin. The study population consisted of 58 patients with PPCMP treated at 3 major hospitals in Turkey, retrospectively. In this study, demographic details and initial echocardiographic data were recorded and long-term clinical status was evaluated. The mean age for the patient cohort was 31.47 +/- 6.31 years. Thirty-eight patients (73.1%) were multigravida and seven patients had multifetal pregnancy (13.7%). The mean follow-up left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction increased from 31 +/- 7 to 38 +/- 19. A minority of patients were defined as improvers according to our pre-specified criteria. The average survival period after diagnosis of PPCMP was 20.66 +/- 14.44 months. Initial values for LV end-diastolic diameter and urea were higher in the deceased patients compared with the surviving patients, respectively. Twenty-eight (48%) patients with PPCMP showed improvement in the follow-up period. Of the 58 PPCMP patients, 9 (15%) died during a mean follow-up of 32 +/- 22 months.