[Severe acute left heart failure with pulmonary edema following cesarean section].

Background: Severe left heart failure shortly after delivery in a previously asymptomatic young woman can be caused by a peripartum cardiomyopathy, an exacerbation of valvular heart disease due to both congenital or acquired etiologies, a sustained chronic tachyarrhythmia (tachycardiomyopathy), a fulminant pulmonary embolism, or an infective endocarditis.

Case Study: 2 days following cesarean section, a 36-year-old primipara without known previous heart disease suffered from severe left heart failure with pulmonary edema (Figure 1) due to an acute bacterial aortic valve endocarditis. The infecting organisms were beta-hemolytic group A streptococci.