Hypertension Is Associated With Increased Risk Of Adverse Clinical Outcomes In Women With Peripartum Cardiomyopathy

Background: Peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) is a rare condition that carries a high morbidity and mortality among young women. Studies examining the association of modifiable risk factors such as hypertension with outcomes in this population are sparse. Methods: We conducted a multi-center retrospective study across three major centers (BWH, BIDMC, MGH) to identify subjects with PPCM using the following criteria: ejection fraction < 40%, development of heart failure within the last month of pregnancy or within 5 months of delivery and no other identifiable cause of heart failure with reduced ejection fraction. We defined adverse clinical outcome as a composite of heart failure hospitalizations, need for extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation, ejection fraction <35%, cardiac transplantation or death during the follow-up period. Results: In all, 237 women met criteria for PPCM across the three centers between April 1995 and November 2015. Participants had a median age of 33.1 years (IQR: 28.6-38.0), gravida 2.0, para 2.0, mean left ventricular ejection fraction at diagnosis of 30%; 25% had chronic hypertension and 14% had preeclampsia. After a median follow-up of 3.2 years (IQR: 1.0-7.8), 59 events occurred. In a logistic regression model adjusting for age, number of prior pregnancies and number of deliveries, women with preeclampsia had an OR of 1.34 (95% CI: 1.05-1.72), p=0.02 as compared to those without preeclampsia. A similar association was observed for hypertension (Table). In sensitivity analysis, the association between preeclampsia and adverse outcomes persisted for blacks and other races, but not for whites. Conclusion: Our study suggests that hypertension or preeclampsia at diagnosis is associated with increased risk of heart failure hospitalizations, need for extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation, poor left ventricular function recovery, cardiac transplantation and death on follow-up in women with PPCM. Clinicians should consider aggressive treatment of hypertension in women of childbearing age.