Erschienen in:
01.12.2010 | Invited Commentary
Familial Occurrence of Peripartum Cardiomyopathy Presages a Genetic Rather Than an Environmental Cause
verfasst von:
Martin St. John Sutton
Erschienen in:
Current Heart Failure Reports
|
Ausgabe 4/2010
Einloggen, um Zugang zu erhalten
Abstract
Peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) is an uncommon form of left ventricular dysfunction associated with pregnancy and triggered by a number of obstetric factors including pre-eclampsia, plural gestations and multiparity. PPCM is the most frequent cause of pregnancy-related maternal death. Although the clinical outcome of PPCM has been determined, its patho-etiology has not been elucidated. Two recent studies have demonstrated for the first time in a small proportion of patients, convincing evidence of a genetic predisposition for PPCM, activated by modifier genes responding to biochemical and hemodynamic signals during mid to late pregnancy.