Peripartum cardiomyopathy: case reports.

Peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) is a dilated cardiomyopathy defined as systolic cardiac heart failure in the last month of pregnancy or within five months of delivery. PPCM, which affects thousands of women each year in the US, was first described in the 1800s, yet its etiology is still unclear. Its diagnosis is often delayed because its symptoms closely resemble those within the normal spectrum of pregnancy and the postpartum period. When PPCM is misdiagnosed or its diagnosis is delayed, the consequences for patients are deadly: The disorder carries a high mortality rate.