Poor outcome of indigent patients with peripartum cardiomyopathy in the United States

OBJECTIVE: Peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) patients from Haiti and South Africa have poor survival and poor left ventricular (LV) function recovery compared with patients from the United States. There are no reported studies of PPCM among the African American population in the United States. We evaluated the prognosis of PPCM in a mostly African American population. STUDY DESIGN: We analyzed the clinical and echocardiographic data of 44 (39 African American) patients with PPCM over an 11 year period (1992-2003). RESULTS: Thirty-nine patients were indigent and 5 had health insurance. During a mean follow-up of 24.0 (range, 0.1-264) months, 7 (15.9%) patients died and LV function returned to normal in 14 (35%). CONCLUSION: LV function recovery and survival rates of PPCM patients observed in our study are similar to those reported from Haiti and South Africa and different from what is generally accepted in the United States.