See Article by S. Lee et al

Pregnancy-associated heart diseases substantially contribute to maternal morbidity and mortality. Among these, peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM), an idiopathic cardiomyopathy that causes heart failure with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction, represents one of the major life-threatening diseases in previously healthy women. The clinical course ranges from milder forms with slightly depressed left ventricular ejection fraction to severe forms with cardiogenic shock.^1,2 Although greater awareness and understanding of PPCM have developed over recent years, major gaps remain about epidemiology, risk factors, pathophysiology, and targeted therapy. As such, the exact diagnosis of PPCM remains a fundamental challenge in both clinical practice and scientific analysis.

In this issue of Circulation: Heart Failure, Lee et al³ present important data on the incidence and risk factors of PPCM in South Korea. The authors retrospectively analyzed a nationwide database that covers a total of 97% of the Korean population, hence expanding the knowledge of PPCM in Asian countries. The estimated incidence of PPCM in South Korea is 1:1741 (795 cases in 1 384 449 pregnancies; Figure). This compares well to the incidences reported in the United States and Germany but is markedly higher than those previously described in an analysis from Japan.^4–6 The incidence of PPCM differs widely depending on the ethnic/racial and regional background of women. Interestingly, Africans and African Americans are at a higher risk for developing PPCM, with an estimated incidence of 1:100 in Nigeria and 1:299 in Haiti,^1,3,7–9 whereas incidences in Caucasian populations range from 1:1000 in Germany to 1:10149 in Denmark.^1,5,6,10 In a Japanese cohort, the incidence was as low as 1:20 000¹¹; however, these results should be interpreted with caution because of methodological aspects, and …

参见S. Lee等人的文章

怀孕相关的心脏病在很大程度上导致了孕产妇的发病和死亡。其中，围产期心肌病（PPCM）是一种特发性心肌病，可引起心力衰竭，左心室射血分数降低，是先前健康女性中一种主要的威胁生命的疾病。临床病程从轻度的左心室射血分数降低到重度的心源性休克。^1，2虽然更深刻的认识和围产期心肌病的认识已经发展了近几年的主要差距仍然对流行病学，危险因素，病理生理学，并有针对性的治疗。因此，PPCM的准确诊断仍然是临床实践和科学分析中的一项基本挑战。

在《循环：心力衰竭》一期中， Lee等[ ^3]提供了有关韩国PPCM的发病率和危险因素的重要数据。作者回顾性分析了覆盖全国97％朝鲜人口的全国性数据库，从而在亚洲国家扩展了PPCM的知识。在韩国，PPCM的估计发病率为1：1741（1 384 449例怀孕中的795例；图）。与美国和德国报道的发病率相比，该发病率高，但明显高于日本先前分析中所述的发病率。^{4 – 6}PPCM的发病率差异很大，具体取决于妇女的种族/种族和地区背景。有趣的是，非洲人和非裔美国人处于发展PPCM的风险较高，估计的1发生率：100尼日利亚和1：299中海地，^{1，3，7 - 9}而在高加索人群发病率范围是从1：1000在德国以1：10149在丹麦。^{1，5，6，10}在日本人群的发病率较低，为1:20 000 ¹¹ ; 但是，由于方法论方面的原因，应谨慎解释这些结果，并且…