Heart failure after pregnancy?

[*fallingfoss*]

My friend gave birth to her second baby boy just under 3 weeks ago. 5 days after delivery she was admitted to hospital with chest pains and shortness of breath. There they diagnosed her with heart failure. Her heart was double the size as was her liver and she had fluid on her lungs. Now after 2 weeks in hospital her condition is still very poor. She is now being transferred to another hospital that specialise in this condition and the talk about a 'heart transplant' is on the cards. Please could anybody give me some more information about this and how long her stay will be in hospital? Her newborn baby does not know her nor does she know him. It is a very sad story

[Allie G]

I am so sorry! That is a very sad story. Not knowing her full history, I can only assume that she was otherwise healthy prior to the baby (no underlying cardiac myopathies). This would lead me to guess peripartum cardiomyopathy. Peripartum cardiomyopathy is a rare cause of heart failure that affects women late in pregnancy or in the early days after birth. There is no clear etiology to the disease. There are four criteria needed to diagnose this:1) Development of heart failure in the last month of pregnancy or with 5 months of delivery2) No underlying cardiac myopathy3) Absence of heart disease prior to the last month of pregnancy4) left ventricle systolic dysfunctionWith heart failure, doctors often try to prolong the complete failing of the heart with certain medications, like I am sure they have tried, but heart transplantation is often the only long-term treatment.However, women with peripartum cardiomyopathy have shown higher rates of spontaneous recovery than people with underlying heart disease.Here is a link to page on treatment to start you off:http://www.fac.org.ar/scvc/llave/cardio-l/namara/namarai.htm

[kana121569]

This is indeed a very sad situation with mixed outcomes. Some women will get it in their first pregnancy and not seek treatment because the symptoms aren't severe enough until they go thru a second pregnancy. Her heart function can still come back so don't give up hope yet.