Dr. Fett -Subsequent Pregnancies - THEORIES.

[SarahsMom]

"While I have many theories of who is more likely to be safe the necessary research to substantiate that is not yet being done."

Dr. Fett - I know that your theories of subsequent pregnancies - are just that...THEORIES, and not proven. I would just be interested in what they are.

I have gone to (3) cardiologists that say, "NO MORE BABIES." Even though I've been off the medication for 6 months and my heart is completely back to normal.

It's just so frustrating that my OB/GYN says ask the cardiologist, the cardiologist knows nothing about pregnancy and the heart as it really isn't his/their area of study (for the majority), I just feel that this disease slips through the cracks as it is neither the OB/GYN NOR a Cardiologists area of expertise???

ARGGGGHHHH!!!!!

Thanks,
Kari

[JAMESFETT]

The observations are that 1)many women with a previous diagnosis of ppcm, after complete recovery of left ventricular function, do support a subsequent pregnancy without relapse, and 2)some women with a diagnosis of ppcm, despite failure to return to completely normal left ventricular function, become pregnant again, and even during the subsequent pregnancy or following, they continue to improve and go on to regain completely normal heart function. Why is that? We do not know, so SOME (there are more) theories waiting to be investigated and proved or disproved are these:
1)Higher risk of relapse of heart failure with a subsequent pregnancy will correlate in a linear fashion with elevated plasma hs-CRP, an indicator of inflammatory process.
2)Higher risk of relapse of heart failure with a subsequent pregnancy will be associated with the presence of plasma antibodies against cardiac myosin and cardiac beta-one-adrenergic receptor.
3)Higher risk of relapse of heart failure with a subsequent pregnancy will be associated with the failure of plasma to produce maturation of immature dendritic cells, which are antigen-presenting cells. The failure to induce maturation indicates the presence in the blood of some type of inhibitors, so far unidentified.

Until an adequately funded study of ppcm mothers and subsequent pregnancies is completed we will not know if these theories are true or false.

James