Idiopathic peripartum cardiomyopathy presenting with heart failure is a true diagnostic and treatment challenge. Goal oriented clinical management aims at the relapse of left ventricular systolic dysfunction. A 35-year-old patient on her 12th day post-delivery presents progressive signs of heart failure. Transthoracic echocardiography showed severe mitral insufficiency, mild left ventricular dy...

Peripartum seizure is a serious disease with substantial morbidity and mortality for the mother and fetus. Among various causes of such seizures, sometimes 2 causative factors can occur, simultaneously creating a dilemma in pharmacotherapeutic management. We describe a 34-weeks-pregnant woman with a history of epilepsy (receiving antiepileptic drugs) who had eclampsia and recurrent seizures in ...

Peripartum cardiomyopathy is a form of heart failure caused by depression of left ventricular systolic function that occurs in healthy women during pregnancy or within a few months postpartum and can have devastating consequences, both physically and mentally. Although this condition may deteriorate and result in a need for heart transplantation or even death, the majority of patients demonstra...

BACKGROUND The treatment of patients with peripartum hemorrhage is unfortunately characterized by inadequate treatment that does not adhere to standard therapeutic measures. AIM Assessment of different management strategies among patients with severe hemorrhage, particularly the ones with "near-miss" maternal morbidity and mortality to establish clinically useful guidelines for the prevention...

BACKGROUND Pregnant women may have an increased risk of stroke compared with nonpregnant women of similar age, but the magnitude and the timing of such risk are unclear. We examined the risk of a first stroke event in women of childbearing age and compared the risk during pregnancy and in the early postpartum period with the background risk outside these periods. METHODS AND RESULTS We conduc...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the trend of adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) and cortisol levels in mares during peripartum period. Twelve pregnant mares (Group A) were weekly monitored from the last 6 weeks before foaling (6BF-1BF) until the first 3 weeks after foaling (1AF-3AF). Twelve non-pregnant non-lactating mares constituted the control (Group B). Jugular blood samples were ana...

Peripartum depression affects up to one in seven women and is associated with significant maternal and neonatal morbidity if untreated. A history of depression is the strongest risk factor for developing peripartum depression. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends screening pregnant and postpartum women for depression. Both two-step and one-step screening strategies are effective i...