Cardiomyopathy and Pregnancy: a High-Risk Combination.

Context Haemodynamic changes, especially blood volume, heart rate and cardiac output augmentation, during pregnancy can exacerbate symptoms in patients with cardiomyopathy or unmask a preexisting asymptomatic condition. Peripartum cardiomyopathy, which also belongs in the cardiomyopathy group, presents with left ventricular (LV) dysfunction towards the end of pregnancy and in the postpartum period, when no other cause of heart failure is evident. All these patients are at high risk of experiencing complications during pregnancy, and therefore, gathering data on pregnancy outcomes in this population is of high importance in order to provide appropriate preconception counselling and management.