Wang Mary
Mary Wang, MD, is a Maternal Health Fellow at West Suburban Hospital in Chicago, IL; a recent graduate of the Family Medicine residency at the Fontana Medical Clinic in Fontana, CA. E-mail:
Perm J. 2009 Fall;13(4):42-5. doi: 10.7812/TPP/08-079.
Peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) is a dilated cardiomyopathy defined as systolic cardiac heart failure in the last month of pregnancy or within five months of delivery. PPCM, which affects thousands of women each year in the US, was first described in the 1800s, yet its etiology is still unclear. Its diagnosis is often delayed because its symptoms closely resemble those within the normal spectrum of pregnancy and the postpartum period. When PPCM is misdiagnosed or its diagnosis is delayed, the consequences for patients are deadly: The disorder carries a high mortality rate.
围产期心肌病（PPCM）是一种扩张型心肌病，定义为妊娠最后一个月或分娩后五个月内出现的收缩性心力衰竭。在美国，每年有数千名女性受PPCM影响，该病最早于19世纪被描述，但其病因仍不清楚。由于其症状与正常妊娠和产后期的症状极为相似，其诊断往往会延迟。当PPCM被误诊或诊断延迟时，对患者的后果是致命的：这种疾病的死亡率很高。
