The objective of this research group is to investigate the cardiac disease that is interlinked with pregnancy or the postpartum period. This group works with many local and international collaborators on aspects of peripartum conditions, spanning from basic science to clinical and population studies in South Africa, Africa and globally.

The team has for many years investigated the pathogenesis, aetiology, epidemiology and management of PPCM, which is common in African women. PPCM is a disease that develops in previously healthy women before delivery, or in the postpartum period, with a reported mortality of 6–20%. This research has led to a new disease-specific therapy, namely bromocriptine which has been added to the 2018 European Society of Cardiology Guidelines on Cardiac Disease in Pregnancy.

Group members

  • Prof. Karen Sliwa-Hahnle (CHI, South Africa) | Group Lead
  • Dr Feriel Azibani (Hôpitaux Universitaires Saint-Louis-Lariboisière University Paris Diderot, France)
  • Prof. Johann Bauersachs (Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Germany)
  • Prof. Michael Böhm (University of Saarland, Homburg, Germany)
  • Olivia Briton (CHI, South Africa)
  • Dr Graham Chakafana (CHI, South Africa)
  • Prof. Albertino Damasceno (Eduardo Mondlane University, Maputo, Mozambique)
  • Prof. Denise Hilfiker-Kleiner (Hannover University, Germany)
  • Dr Julian Hoevelmann (CHI, South Africa)
  • Dr Alice Jackson (University of Glasgow, UK)
  • Dr Fareda Jakoet-Bassier (CHI, South Africa)
  • Prof. Mark Johnson (Imperial College, London, UK)
  • Prof. Kamilu Karaye (Kano University, Nigeria)
  • Vitaris Kodogo (CHI, South Africa)
  • Prof. Ayesha Osman (Dept. of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, UCT, South Africa)
  • Prof. Sandrine Lecour (CHI, South Africa)
  • Prof. Mahmoud Sani (Kano University, Nigeria)
  • Prof. Abel Makubi (Muhimbili National Hospital, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania)
  • Dr Naisa Manafe (Maputo Mozambique)
  • Prof. Alexandre Mebazaa (Hôpitaux Universitaires Saint-Louis-Lariboisière University Paris Diderot, France)
  • Prof. Ana Mocumbi (Mavelane Hospital, Mozambique)
  • Prof. Mark Petrie (University of Glasgow, UK)
  • Prof. Jolien Roos-Hesselink (Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam, Netherlands)
  • Dr Kemi Tibazarwa (Muhimbili Hospital, Tanzania)
  • Dr Charle Viljoen (CHI, South Africa)
  • Dr Ranio Zhang Zu (CHI, South Africa)
  • Prof. Liesl Zϋhlke (UCT, South Africa)

Research Projects

Global registry on peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) – European Society of Cardiology (ESC) EURObservational Research Programme

Prof. Karen Sliwa-Hahnle and Prof. J. Bauersachs are the principal investigators of an ongoing global study on Peripartum Cardiomyopathy and the first results of the six-month outcome of more than 700 patients have been reported.

Read the article: Clinical presentation, management, and 6-month outcomes in women with peripartum cardiomyopathy: an ESC EORP registry. European Heart Journal (2020).

Data on the impact of hypertension on women with PPCM have been presented as a Late-Breaking Trial session at the European Society of Cardiology Congress, in August 2021 and have been published.