Successful Use of Non-invasive Positive Pressure Ventilation in a Patient with Peripartum Cardiomyopathy: A Case Report

Peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) occurs in approximately 1/3000-1/10,000 deliveries and may result in severe ventricular dysfunction during last month of pregnancy or early puerperium. The clinical presentation and the management of the disease are similar to that of dilated cardiomyopathy due to any other cause. Non-invasive positive pressure ventilation (NPPV) delivers mechanically assisted ventilation to the lungs, without the use of an invasive endotracheal airway. We report a case of a 22-year-old woman, with full-term gestation, in the active stage of labor with PPCM, in decompensated heart failure and pulmonary edema. She was successfully managed with NPPV without any adverse outcome for mother and child.