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Background: The incidence of peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) is known through referral center databases that may be affected by referral, misclassification, and other biases. We sought to determine the community-based incidence and natural history of PPCM using the Rochester Epidemiology Project.Methods and Results: Incident cases of PPCM occurring between January 1, 1970, and December 31, 2014, were identified in Olmsted County, Minnesota. A total of 15 PPCM cases were confirmed yielding an incidence of 20.3 cases per 100,000 live births in Olmsted County, Minnesota. Clinical information, disease characteristics, and outcomes were extracted from medical records in a 27-county region of the Rochester Epidemiology Project including Olmsted County and matched in a 1:2 ratio with pregnant women without PPCM. A total of 48 women were identified with PPCM in the expanded 27-county region. There was 1 death and no transplants over a median of 7.3 years of follow-up. Six of the 23 women with subsequent pregnancies developed recurrent PPCM, all of whom recovered. Migraine and anxiety were identified as novel possible risk factors for PPCM.Conclusions: The population-based incidence of PPCM was 20.3 cases per 100,000 live births in Olmsted County, Minnesota. Cardiovascular outcomes were generally excellent in this community cohort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background--Peripartum cardiomyopathy has variable disease progression and left ventricular (LV) recovery. We hypothesized that baseline right ventricular (RV) size and function are associated with LV recovery and outcome. Methods and Results--Investigations of Pregnancy-Associated Cardiomyopathy was a prospective 30-center study of 100 peripartum cardiomyopathy women with LV ejection fraction (LVEF) <45% within 13 weeks after delivery. Baseline RV function was assessed by echocardiographic end-diastolic area, end-systolic area, fractional area change, tricuspid annular plane excursion, and RV speckle-tracking longitudinal strain. LV recovery was defined as LVEF of ≥50% at 1 year, persistent severe LV dysfunction as LVEF of ≤35%, and major events as death, transplant, or LV assist device implantation. RV measurements were feasible for 90 of the 96 patients (94%) with echocardiograms available. Mean baseline LVEF was 36±9%. RV fractional area change was <35% in 38% of patients. Of 84 patients with 1-year follow-up data, 63 (75%) had LV recovery and 11 (13%) had LVEF of ≤35% or a major event (4 LV assist devices and 2 deaths). Tricuspid annular plane excursion and RV strain did not predict outcome. Baseline RV fractional area change by multivariable analysis was independently associated with subsequent LV recovery and clinical outcome. Conclusions--Peripartum cardiomyopathy patients had a high incidence of LV recovery, but a significant minority had persistent LV dysfunction or a major clinical event by 1 year. RV function per echocardiographic fractional area change at presentation was associated with subsequent LV recovery and clinical outcomes and thus is prognostically important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To describe cardiac and obstetric outcomes in subsequent pregnancies of patients with peripartum cardiomyopathy and to report demographic and clinical characteristics of index pregnancies.Methods: 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.Results: 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).Conclusion: 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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]