Cardiogenic shock

Cardiogenic shock is caused by failure of the heart to pump effectively. Cardiogenic shock is characterized by systemic hypoperfusion in the setting of adequate intravascular volume. This chapter emphasizes the usefulness of early coronary angiography after acute myocardial infarction in pregnancy. Peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) is cardiomyopathy that develops in the last gestational month of pregnancy or in the first 5 months postpartum. Rheumatic mitral stenosis (MS) is the most common clinically significant valvular abnormality in pregnant women and may be associated with pulmonary congestion, edema, and atrial arrhythmias during pregnancy or soon after delivery. The majority of cases of acute aortic dissection during pregnancy occur as the result of Marfan’s syndrome and coarctation of the aorta. Pulmonary hypertension is diagnosed via right heart catheterization. Extracorporeal life support has been used successfully in a woman with severe pulmonary hypertension who went into cardiogenic shock during cesarean delivery.