Prevalence of Peripartum Cardiomyopathy in Pre-Eclampsia Patients Presenting To a Tertiary Care Health Facility

Objective: To determine the frequency of Peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) in Pre-eclamptic women presenting to a tertiary care facility.Methodology: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted over a period of six months, from December 9, 2021, to June 10, 2022,in the Gynecology and Obstetrics Unit I of Liaquat University Hospital, Hyderabad. The study population comprised preeclampsia womenaged 18 to 45 years, with a gestational age of more than 20 weeks as confirmed by early ultrasound, regardless of parity, and carrying asingle alive fetus. PPCM was diagnosed based on echocardiographic findings, with the key diagnostic criterion being a left ventricularejection fraction (LVEF) of less than 45%.Results: Of 102 patients, the mean age of the patients was 25.57 ±3.73 years. The mean height, weight, and BMI of the patients were160.11 ±8.89 cm, 75.09 ±14.82 kg, and 29.08 ±5.19 kg/m2 respectively. The mean 24 hours proteinuria level of the patients was 344.62±16.35 mg/24 hours. The mean ejection fraction was found to be 55.01 ±9.69%. Frequency of PPCM was observed in 9 (9%) patients,which was statistically insignificant according to age, residential status, BMI and mode of delivery (>0.05).Conclusion: PPCM was concluded to be 9% among pre-eclamptic women, highlighting a notable association between pre-eclampsia and thedevelopment of cardiac dysfunction during the peripartum period, which underscoring the need for enhanced clinical observation and routinecardiovascular assessment in this population.Keywords: Peripartum cardiomyopathy, pre-eclamptic women, ejection fraction