Post partum heart failure: a rare presentation to the intensive care unit of a teaching hospital in Ghana

Abstract

Isaac Kofi Owusu,1 Charles Anane,1 Kwame Ohene Buabeng,21Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, 2Clinical and Social Pharmacy Department, Kwame Nkrumah University Of Science and Technology, Kumasi, GhanaAbstract: A patient with a devastating form of heart failure that sometimes afflicts women in late pregnancy or after delivery presented to the intensive care unit of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi, Ghana, in September 2010. The patient was a 37-year-old farmer and mother of six children, and was admitted with symptoms of heart failure five months after the delivery of her last child. After clinical evaluation, post partum cardiomyopathy was diagnosed. She responded well to treatment and was discharged on day 10 following admission, to be followed up at the cardiac clinic.Keywords: heart failure, cardiomyopathy, late pregnancy, post partum, Ghana