Spontaneous Recovery

[anne]

Can spontaneous recovery without meds happen at anytime or is that restricted for the first few months. Also is there one documented case that documents a spontaneous recovery (without meds) AFTER the the ventricle has dilated? Many thanks in advance.

[JAMESFETT]

Yes probably so, very mysterious, but possible. The LV dilatation is common early, and with return of normal LVEF, often returns to within normal limit size.

JD

[momofsix]

All I can say is that I went from EF 30-35% to EF 49% without meds. However, it happened gradually, after 3 months my EF was 35 - 40 %, after 6 months 40 - 45 %, after 18 months 49% and after another year it was still the same. I guess that is not a full recovery, but still, a great improvement and the cardiologist called it a low normal. LV size and all other measurements went back to normal pretty quickly. Now that I am pregnant I hope for no relapse......
Christa

[tbarton]

I went without any meds but a diuretic for the first year due to doctor issues. (Grrr!) My new cardiologist tried to get me me on meds and I was unable to tolerate them and saw no EF improvement while on them. It reached a point where we decided I should go off the meds after about a year of misery. At that point my EF was still 30-35% which is what it was a diagnosis. About 2 to 3 years after diagnosis, my EF started to improved. My last echo this spring showed it at 55%. I feel great. Probably better than even before I got PPCM. I'm 8 years out now and I've been able to run several half marathons and my heart is doing great so yes, it can happen.:)

[Manderz3082]

I was diagnosed on 9/27/09 I was put on a a lot of meds, I took them for the first month or so and I was very sick on them, I dont tollerate meds, I tried and even went into a type of kidney failure, I quit taking them, I had 4 echos with no improvement and then in May I had a cardiac MRI and it showed that I had improved from 40% to 50%. My blood work is good and I feel great! I just did the Heart Walk in Minneapolis (3 miles) and made it! I struggled at the end but made it! My cardiologist told me my body will quit before my heart does. There are days where I get run down, but I feel wonderful now! I dont think it is a good idea for ANYONE with the ppcm to not take meds...I should have, but I can say that my heart is healing without.

[JAMESFETT]

The heart has great regenerative potential, but, unless totally intolerable, it is still risky not to take medications that have multiple ways of bringing about improvements.

I do believe with time that we will realize that the cells that come to mom from child in uterus (primitive dendritic cells) help to repair the heart, and that may be a part of "spontaneous recovery," when it occurs. We know those primitive cells appear in the functioning myocardium; and we know that in other instances of organ failure, such as the liver, the fetal cells make up most of the functioning liver in survived and recovered mom.

Your conditioning program sounds fantastic!

JD

[momofsix]

Dr. Fett,
How interesting that you mention this. I read an article about a study and it was exactly about how cells from the baby can help the health of the mother, and it also seems to happen the other way around. They still found cells from the baby in the mother's system 27 years after she gave birth. If I remember it right there were a couple of members in this group who were doing better after their post-PPCM pregancy than before. I am often thinking about those cells and am hoping and praying that they will be a blessing for my heart........especially since I also can not tolerate most of the meds..........
Christa

[JAMESFETT]

Yes, initially, the thought was that these cells could be harmful, but now the view is turning that they may actually be helpful, which is what I think. "Fetal microchimerism," it is called. Something like a transplant that is not rejected.

JD

[momofsix]

For a while I thought that fetal cells might have caused the autoimmune responses in my heart, but I don't believe it anymore. Thank you for that information, that is very amazing!
Christa