Unrecognised peripartum cardiomyopathy will have dire consequences

Abstract

We report an undiagnosed case of Peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) in our tertiary care hospital, who
presented for an elective cesarean section (CS) with cough and orthopnea in her late gestational period. She
was treated for upper respiratory tract infection; whereas her heart failure leading to pulmonary edema causing
cough and orthopnea, remained unidentified and thus uninvestigated. The disease was only diagnosed during
the postoperative period when she suffered from cardiac arrest and had to be ventilated mechanically. She
was effectively managed after correct diagnosis; weaned successfully off the ventilator and transferred to the
Obstetrics/Gynecology ward in a stable conditio