Unknown rheumatic cardiac disease as cause of acute onset post-partum dyspnea: a case report

Abstract

Background: Acute post-partum dyspnea configures an obstetric challenge with multiple differential diagnosis.

Case presentation: We present a case of a previous healthy woman with preeclampsia who developed severe dyspnea 30 h after delivery. She complained of cough, orthopnea, and bilateral lower extremities oedema. She denied headaches, blurry vision, nausea, vomiting, fever or chills. Auscultation revealed a diastolic murmur, and was compatible with pulmonary oedema. A timely bedside echocardiogram showed moderate dilated left atrium with severe mitral insufficiency suggestive of an unknown rheumatic disease. She was managed with noninvasive ventilation, loop diuretics, vasodilators, thromboprophylaxis, head-end elevation, and fluid restriction with progressive improving.

Conclusions: Hemodynamic changes in pregnant patients with previously silent cardiac disease may pose a challenge and cause post-partum dyspnea. This scenario requires a timely and multidisciplinary approach.

Keywords: Dyspnea; Postpartum period; Pregnancy; Pulmonary edema; Rheumatic heart disease.