We enrolled 80 PPCM patients. All received standard heart failure therapy. 41 patients were randomized to receive additional PTX and 39 received placebo. Clinical assessment, echocardiography and blood analysis were performed at baseline and after 6 months of therapy.
Patients in the PTX group started off with a slightly worse New York Heart Association functional class (NYHA FC). All other parameters were similar at baseline and after 6 months of treatment. Overall mortality rate was low (6.25%), but among the 5 patients who died during the follow up period, 4 had been in the PTX group and only 1 in the placebo group.
Unexpectedly, we were not able to demonstrate improved mortality for PPCM patients through the addition of PTX 800mg TID to standard heart failure therapy. Rather it appears to be potentially harmful. In the absence of any demonstrable benefit for PPCM patients in this study and in the absence of other randomized trials on the subject, these results prompt us to underscore a note of caution against the use of PTX in addition to standard heart failure therapy in all PPCM patients, but especially in HIV-infected individuals with PPCM.
Peripartum Cardiomyopathy; Pentoxifylline; Clinical Trials; Pregnancy; PPCM; PTX; Treatment