Clinical Characteristics and Long-Term Outcomes of Peripartum Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy and Peripartum Cardiomyopathy

AIMS: Although some peripartum-associated cardiomyopathy patients present with features that are clinically and echocardiographically similar to those of takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TCM), little is known about the diagnosis and clinical course of peripartum TCM. METHODS AND RESULTS: In a tertiary hospital in Seoul, Korea, we searched the hospital database to find cardiomyopathy cases that were associated with pregnancy from January 1995 to May 2019. Applying the published diagnostic criteria, we sought peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) and peripartum TCM patients for comparison. Of 31 pregnancy-associated cardiomyopathy patients, 10 cases of peripartum TCM and 21 cases of PPCM were found. Maternal near-miss death was significantly more common in the peripartum TCM group than in the PPCM group (100.0% vs. 57.1%, P = 0.030). Complete recovery was observed with all peripartum TCM cases, while 23.8% of the PPCM cases had residual left ventricular dysfunction. One death and one heart transplantation occurred in the PPCM group, while neither occurred in the peripartum TCM group. There was no difference between the two groups in terms of the rate of major adverse clinical events at 3 years of follow-up [PPCM group: 26.3% (5/19) vs. TCM group: 33.3% (3/9), P = 0.750]. CONCLUSIONS: One-third of pregnancy-associated cardiomyopathy patients had peripartum TCM. With contemporary supportive care, both PPCM and peripartum TCM patients had a low mortality rate and excellent long-term outcomes.