Heart Failure in Late Pregnancy and Postpartum: Incidence and Long-Term Mortality in Sweden From 1997 to 2010

Abstract

Background: Heart failure (HF) in late pregnancy and postpartum (HFPP), of which peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) constitutes the larger part, is still a rare occurrence in Sweden. Population-based data are scarce. Our aim was to characterize HFPP and determine the incidence and mortality in a Swedish cohort.

Methods and results: Through merging data from the National Inpatient, Cause of Death, and Medical Birth Registries, we identified ICD-10 codes for HF and cardiomyopathy within 3 months before delivery to 6 months postpartum. Each case was assigned 5 age-matched control subjects from the Medical Birth Registry. From 1997 to 2010, 241 unique HFPP case subjects and 1063 matched control subjects were identified. Mean incidence was 1 in 5719 deliveries. HFPP was strongly associated with preeclampsia (odds ratio [OR] 11.91, 95% confidence interval [CI] 7.86-18.06), obesity (OR 2.5, 95% CI 1.7-3.7), low- and middle-income country (LMIC) of origin (OR 1.73, 95% CI 1.14-2.63), and twin deliveries (OR 4.39 CI 95% 2.24-8.58). By the end of the study period deaths among cases were >35-fold those of controls: 9 cases (3.7 %) and 1 control (0.1 %; P < .0001). Among control subjects, 17.9% of mortalities occurred within 3 years, of diagnosis compared with 100% among cases.

Conclusions: The mean incidence and mortality among women with HFPP in Sweden from 1997 to 2010 was low but carried a marked excess risk of death compared with control subjects and was strongly linked to preeclampsia, obesity, multifetal births, and LMIC origin of the mother.

Keywords: Cardiomyopathy; epidemiology; heart failure; pregnancy, postpartum.