{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,5]],"date-time":"2026-09-05T03:21:25Z","timestamp":1788578485960,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":26,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,1,7]],"date-time":"2022-01-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1641513600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Life"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) is a rare, life-threatening form of heart disease, frequently associated with gene alterations and, in some cases, presenting with advanced heart failure. Little is known about ventricular assist device (VAD) implantation in severe PPCM cases. We describe long-term follow-up of PPCM patients who were resistant to medical therapy and received mechanical circulatory support or heart transplant. Methods and results: A total of 13 patients were included with mean follow-up of eight years. Mean age of PPCM onset was 33.7 \u00b1 7.7 years. All patients were initially treated with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and beta-blockers, and four received bromocriptine. Overall, five patients received VADs (three biventricular, two isolated left ventricular) at median 27 days (range: 3 to 150) following childbirth. Two patients developed drive line infection. Due to the short support time, none of those patients had a stroke or VAD thrombosis. In total, five patients underwent heart transplantation, of which four previously had implanted VADs. Median time to transplantation from PPCM onset was 140 days (range: 43 to 776), and time to transplantation from VAD implantation were 7, 40, 132, and 735 days, respectively. All patients survived until most recent follow up, with the exception of one patient who died following unrelated abdominal surgery two years after PPCM recovery. Conclusions: In patients with severe, life-threatening PPCM refractory to medical management, mechanical circulatory support with or without heart transplantation is a safe therapeutic option.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/life12010087","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,1,9]],"date-time":"2022-01-09T23:06:15Z","timestamp":1641769575000},"page":"87","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":7,"title":["Long-Term Follow-Up of Mechanical Circulatory Support in Peripartum Cardiomyopathy (PPCM) Refractory to Medical Management: A Multicenter Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7897-1462","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Khalil","family":"Jawad","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Leipzig Heart Center Leipzig, University Clinic of Cardiac Surgery, 04289 Leipzig, Germany"},{"name":"Peter Munk Cardiac Center, University of Toronto, Cardiac Surgery, Toronto, ON M5S 1A1, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alex","family":"Koziarz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Peter Munk Cardiac Center, University of Toronto, Cardiac Surgery, Toronto, ON M5S 1A1, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5503-9901","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maja-Theresa","family":"Dieterlen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Leipzig Heart Center Leipzig, University Clinic of Cardiac Surgery, 04289 Leipzig, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9239-2341","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jens","family":"Garbade","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Leipzig Heart Center Leipzig, University Clinic of Cardiac Surgery, 04289 Leipzig, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Christian D.","family":"Etz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Leipzig Heart Center Leipzig, University Clinic of Cardiac Surgery, 04289 Leipzig, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Diyar","family":"Saeed","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Leipzig Heart Center Leipzig, University Clinic of Cardiac Surgery, 04289 Leipzig, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Elena","family":"Langer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics, University of Leipzig, 04109 Leipzig, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Holger","family":"Stepan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics, University of Leipzig, 04109 Leipzig, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ute","family":"Scholz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre of Coagulation Disorders, 04109 Leipzig, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Michael","family":"Krause","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre of Coagulation Disorders, 04109 Leipzig, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Paolo","family":"Brenner","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Cardiac Surgery, University of Munich, 80539 Munich, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Uwe","family":"Schulz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Leipzig Heart Center Leipzig, University Clinic of Cardiac Surgery, 04289 Leipzig, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Michael A.","family":"Borger","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Leipzig Heart Center Leipzig, University Clinic of Cardiac Surgery, 04289 Leipzig, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sandra","family":"Eifert","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Leipzig Heart Center Leipzig, University Clinic of Cardiac Surgery, 04289 Leipzig, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,1,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"767","DOI":"10.1093\/eurjhf\/hfq120","article-title":"Current state of knowledge on aetiology, diagnosis, management, and therapy of peripartum cardiomyopathy: A position statement from the Heart Failure Association of the European Society of Cardiology Working Group on peripartum cardiomyopathy","volume":"12","author":"Sliwa","year":"2010","journal-title":"Eur. 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