Dr. Fett....a question.

[amyls]

I was told my my cardiologist that my preeclamsia and PPCM were UNrelated. By the sounds of the e-mail from the NIH, they are saying they are. My cardiologist is one of the best here in the Midwest and was trained at John Hopkins so I trust her knowledge. How can there be such variations of opitions on this?
I am so sorry about this diappointing news. Let us know if there is anything we can do.
God Bless
amy

[JAMESFETT]

Thanks, Amy. The two largest centers for the study of PPCM (Soweto, South Africa and Deschapelles, Haiti, find PPCM and Pre-eclampsia or Toxemia of Pregnancy to be two different processes. They may occur together, although in our PPCM Registry in Haiti, we find little overlap. I believe Dr. Sliwa in South Africa finds the same to be true. There is no doubt toxemia presents additional stresses on the heart, and may unmask PPCM earlier in the course if the two appear together. We still have a lot to learn about both conditions, so I expect as time goes along we will have better understanding of both. The important thing is to continue investigations of both.

James

[Kelly]

Dr. Fett,
I was also under the impression that pre-eclampsia was related to PPCM. My question is what kind of relation is there between a molar pregnancy and PPCM. I thought that my molar pregnancy led to my pre-eclampsia, which led to my HELLP syndrome, which all led to the PPCM. It is very hard to find information on all of these things since they are all quite rare so I don't know if anything is related to anything else. Were any of these complications related to PPCM?

[JAMESFETT]

Kelly, there is much yet unknown about the various conditions, but it seems pretty clear that toxemia, pre-eclampsia, and PPCM are all different entities. There is a report in the medical literature: Massad et al. Family peripartum cardiomyopathy after molar pregnancy. Obstetrics & Gynecology 1993;81:886-8.

James