Clinical introduction

A patient in their 30s had been diagnosed with peripartum cardiomyopathy, pulmonary oedema, with severe left ventricular dysfunction at the seventh month of gestation in the third pregnancy in their late 20s. The patient had pregnancy-induced hypertension and hypothyroidism and was treated accordingly. The patient was managed medically and was referred to us in view of worsening symptoms with severe left ventricular dysfunction and moderate aortic regurgitation. Echocardiogram, CT aortogram and late gadolinium imaging of the aorta have been shown in figure 1. The coronary angiogram was normal. C reactive protein and erythrocyte sedimentation rate were elevated. …