Beware postpartum shortness of breath


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AKPİNAR G., İPEKCİ A., GÜLEN B., İKİZCELİ İ.

PAKISTAN JOURNAL OF MEDICAL SCIENCES, vol.31, no.5, pp.1280-1282, 2015 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 31 Issue: 5
  • Publication Date: 2015
  • Doi Number: 10.12669/pjms.315.8060
  • Journal Name: PAKISTAN JOURNAL OF MEDICAL SCIENCES
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus
  • Page Numbers: pp.1280-1282
  • Bezmialem Vakıf University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

Peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) is one of the potentially life-threatening complications of pregnancy. We report a case of a 36-year-old female patient who presented with shortness of breath, swelling of feet after giving birth to triplets, and her tests revealed that left ventricle is dilated with its diameter on the borderline and she had EF 35% with advanced systolic dysfunction. Anterior wall and septum were severely hypokinetic. In the presence of these findings, the patient was evaluated as PPCM. PPCM must be considered in the differential diagnosis of a patient presenting with shortness of breath and swelling of feet, which are also common in pregnancy.