Peripartum cardiomyopathy

Peripartum cardiomyopathy is a rare disorder in which a weakened heart is diagnosed within the last month of pregnancy or within 5 months after delivery, without other identifiable causes for dysfunction of the heart. The heart muscle becomes enlarged and weakened and cannot pump blood efficiently. Decreased heart function affects the lungs, liver, and other body systems.

Review Date: 12/20/2010
Reviewed By: Harvey Simon, MD, Editor-in-Chief, Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Physician, Massachusetts General Hospital.

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