Peripartal Cardiomyopathy in Japan
A Critical Reappraisal of the Concept
1972 Volume 13 Issue 6 Pages 488-501
Details
1972 Volume 13 Issue 6 Pages 488-501
Clinical and autopsy records of our 5 cases of peripartal cardiomyopathy, as well as those of 18 reported Japanese cases, were analyzed and were compared to our findings in 8 non-peripartal female and 34 male patients of primary cardiomyopathy.
The incidence of cardiomyopathy was significantly higher in peripartal period than in the rest of the adult period in 10 married female patients (P<0.002).
The clinical picture of peripartal cardiomyopathy was characterized by acute onset of severe dyspnea and subsequent subacute course leading either to early death or to complete recovery. Short history simulating upper respiratory infection preceded severe symptoms in some cases, and suggestions for viral infection were obtained in a few patients.
Autopsy revealed intracardiac thrombi and pulmonary and systemic thromboembolism, but only minimal histological change of the myocardium in many cases.
The nature of this disease as a primary cardiomyopathy of usual sense was doubted seriously and essential contribution of intravascular blood coagulation under possible participation of viral infection was speculated.
