Peripartum cardiomyopathy presenting with pulmonary embolism: an unusual case.

A 35-year-old woman was admitted to the intensive care unit with heart failure and chest pain. Echocardiography had shown dilated cardiomyopathy, with a preponderance of right heart findings and pulmonary hypertension. In a woman with multiple prior uncomplicated pregnancies and deliveries, and no other known risk factors of developing pulmonary hypertension, a clinical judgment of acute pulmonary embolism was made. This patient was found to have peripartum cardiomyopathy complicated by pulmonary embolism. The aim of this report is to make health professionals aware of the possibilities in a patient with dyspnea in the postpartum period.