Abstract

We report a case of acute respiratory insufficiency due to peripartum cardiomyopathy after Caesarean section in a term pregnancy with twins. The patient was a 30-year-old woman with a spontaneous twin pregnancy at 32 weeks of gestation who was admitted to our obstetrics department with preterm premature rupture of membranes. After 48 hours, the tocolysis was stopped and an uneventful Caesarean was performed under general anesthesia. As the patient was waking up, her SPO2 decreased to 32%, and she became cyanotic and tachypneic. Auscultation revealed rales in her lower lung lobes bilaterally. Her oxygen saturation did not increase in the hours that followed, and her cyanosis persisted, so we decided to admit her to the Intensive Care Unit. She was mechanically ventilated. Her chest Xray showed an enlarged cardiac silhouette and pulmonary infiltrates in the lower lobes. On the second postoperative day, transthoracic echocardiography was performed and revealed an EF of 45%, mild left ventricular systolic dysfunction and moderate mitral valve failure. Lisinopryl and furosemide were started. On postoperative day four, her symptoms and radiological signs had resolved. She was weaned from mechanical ventilation and discharged from the obstetric ward on postoperative day seven.