Unrecognised peripartum cardiomyopathy will have dire consequences

We report an undiagnosed case of Peripartum cardiomyopathy [PPCM] in our tertiary care hospital, who presented for an elective cesarean section [CS] with cough and orthopnea in her late gestational period. She was treated for upper respiratory tract infection; whereas her heart failure leading to pulmonary edema causing cough and orthopnea, remained unidentified and thus uninvestigated. The disease was only diagnosed during the postoperative period when she suffered from cardiac arrest and had to be ventilated mechanically. She was effectively managed after correct diagnosis; weaned successfully off the ventilator and transferred to the Obstetrics/Gynecology ward in a stable condition