Recovery from peripartum cardiomyopathy after treatment with bromocriptine

Item Type:	Article
Title:	Recovery from peripartum cardiomyopathy after treatment with bromocriptine
Creators Name:	Habedank, D. and Kuehnle, Y. and Elgeti, T. and Dudenhausen, J.W. and Haverkamp, W. and Dietz, R.
Abstract:	Peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) is a potentially devastating cause of heart failure that affects women late in pregnancy or in early puerperium. Recent findings showed that a 16 kDa fragment of prolactin may induce myocardial damage, and this offered a new option of treating PPCM by blocking prolactin with bromocriptine. We report on a 35-year-old woman with a twin gravidity who gave birth to two healthy boys at day 36/6 and developed a potentially fatal PPCM. Within 3 days since delivery she suffered from severe symptoms of heart failure (orthopnoea, pleural and pericardial effusion, reduced systolic function LVEF 15%). Bromocriptine 2.5 mg bid was added to standard heart failure therapy at day 6 after delivery, and within a week the patient recovered to NYHA functional class II. 2 months later she presented in a good state, NYHA class I, and MRI confirmed an LVEF of 60%. Balancing the potential side effects of bromocriptine against the very poor prognosis in severe PPCM our case supports the use of bromocriptine as a specific novel therapy.
Keywords:	Peripartum, Cardiomyopathy, Bromocriptine
Source:	European Journal of Heart Failure
ISSN:	1388-9842
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Volume:	10
Number:	11
Page Range:	1149-1151
Date:	November 2008
Official Publication:	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejheart.2008.09.001
PubMed:	View item in PubMed

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