Delayed-enhanced cardiac magnetic resonance imaging features in peripartum cardiomyopathy

Peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) is a rare disorder in which left ventricular systolic dysfunction and symptoms of heart failure occur in the peripartum period. Although cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) is largely used for diagnosis and prognosis assessment in cardiomyopathies, its interest in PPCM is unknown. We reported two cases of patients with PPCM who underwent CMR. One patient had no CMR abnormality, while the second patient had several areas of myocardial delayed enhancement (MDE) on CMR images. During follow up, the patient with normal CMR was asymptomatic and had full recovery of cardiac function, whereas the patient with MDE was still symptomatic with persistence of a left ventricular dysfunction. CMR could have prognosis value in PPCM as demonstrated in other cardiomyopathies. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.