Minnesota medicine
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Peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) is a disease of unknown etiology characterized by the onset of left ventricular failure during the period of 1 month antepartum to 5 months postpartum. The PPCM Project at Hospital Albert Schweitzer (HAS) in Haiti has identified 78 cases of PPCM since February 1, 2000, representing an incidence of 1 case per 350 to 400 live births, which is severalfold the estimated incidence in the United States. ⋯ Ongoing investigations have identified the presence of several anticardiac antibodies in many women at HAS who have PPCM, suggesting that PPCM is a unique form of dilated cardiomyopathy and supporting the hypothesis that PPCM has an autoimmune basis. Identification of a high-incidence area for PPCM presents a unique opportunity to make progress in defining potential risk factors, identifying high-risk mothers, detecting underlying etiologies, and discovering more effective new treatments of this often-fatal disease.