EN 
ES It is a rare heart disease, where the heart dilates (increases in size) and there are symptoms of heart failure such as: dyspnea, edema of the lower limbs, fatigue; symptoms that are related to physical activity. At the beginning they can progress and get worse until they appear at rest, making it difficult for the patient to carry out their daily activities. It occurs at the end of pregnancy or the first five months after delivery (puerperium) in a mother who had no heart disease at the time of pregnancy.
The first description of the disease is attributed to RICHIE in 1849. The European Society of Cardiology defines it as an unfamiliar, non-genetic form of cardiomyopathy associated with pregnancy. The American Heart Association, as a rare form of acquired primary cardiomyopathy is associated with left ventricular failure in the absence of a primary recognizable cause. This left ventricular systolic dysfunction is demonstrable by classic echocardiographic criteria. The incidence of this heart disease worldwide is very variable, with areas where it is a rarity to places like Haiti where the disease is quite frequent.
It is necessary for its diagnosis that there is no other probable cause of cardiac involvement, that is to say that the mother who suffers from it, does not have a hypertensive, rheumatic, or ischemic heart disease. In this sense, the diagnosis of peripartum dilated cardiomyopathy is a diagnosis of exclusion.
Its etiology (cause) is not well known, and its frequency is variable. Throughout the world there are countries where it is rare and others where it is a very important cause of heart failure and therefore death.
The first description of this disease was made in 1870 and it was not until 1971 that the term of Peripartum Dilated Cardiomyopathy was coined.
It is a very rare disease in industrialized countries, and relatively frequent in developing countries. In U.S.A. One case is recorded for every 2,300 live births, 1 for every 1,000 in South Africa, 1 for every 300 in Haiti, and 1 for every 100 in Nigeria.
Etiology and Epidemiology:
Its causes are not known with certainty, but it is known that there are factors that increase the risk of suffering such as: multiparity such as twin pregnancy, maternal age being more frequent in mothers over 30 years of age, being of African descent (race black), hypertension induced by pregnancy (preclamsia), viral infections during pregnancy, multiparity (more than 1 delivery) among others. Also the history of having suffered this entity in previous pregnancies increases the risk of suffering it in subsequent pregnancies.
Within the mechanisms involved in this entity we speak of an Inflammatory Theory, with the participation of the immune system, anViral Theory that involves the participation of certain viral infections in the course of pregnancy and there is a Hormonal Theory, where substances such as estrogen are mentioned , prolactins among others.
Published in: Today Digital Newspaper
