[Cardiac arrest during emergency cesarean section due to peripartum cardiomyopathy--a case report].

A 23-year-old woman at 35 weeks of gestation was scheduled for emergency cesarean section because of preeclampsia. Anesthesia was induced with thiopental 250 mg, and her trachea was intubated following administration of vecuronium 7 mg. Anesthesia was maintained with oxygen and sevoflurane (0.5%). Immediately after the start of the surgical procedure, she developed severe bradycardia and hypotension followed by cardiac arrest. She was resuscitated, and her heart beat resumed 30 min after the start of the resuscitation. Her babies were delivered without sequela during resuscitation. She was transferred to the intensive care unit of our university hospital. She was diagnosed as having peripartum cardiomyopathy from her history and echocardiography. She was discharged from the hospital with only slight disturbance of consciousness two months after surgery.