Peripartum cardiomyopathy - a global problem

Thursday March 9th, 2017

Peripartum cardiomyopathy is increasingly being found in wealthy countries, according to a global analysis published yesterday.

Researchers said their findings showed it was "truly a global disease."

The findings come from an analysis of 411 patients identified through registries in 43 countries in all populated continents.

The study found that 80% of women had heart failure one month after diagnosis. About 7% suffered from thrombosis.

The research, published in the European Journal of Heart Failure, was conducted at the Hatter Institute for Cardiovascular Research in Africa, Cape Town, South Africa.

Researcher Professor Karen Sliwa said she found a large percentage of women patients in the UK and Germany.

She said: “People have always thought PPCM was much more common and severe in Africans and that it was a disease of poverty but our study clearly shows that it’s not.

She added: “The disease presented quite uniformly despite occurring globally in different ethnic groups and in very different healthcare systems.

“This tells us that peripartum cardiomyopathy is to some extent a biological disease and women might have a genetic predisposition, which is probably a cellular and cardiac signalling abnormality.

"This is not a disease with marked differences between ethnic groups.”

Sliwa K, et al. Clinical characteristics of patients from the worldwide registry on peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM). European Journal of Heart Failure 8 March 2017; doi:10.1002/ejhf.780

Tags: Africa | Childbirth and Pregnancy | Europe | Heart Health | Women's Health & Gynaecology

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