"Zombie cells" lurking in the placenta may underpin a type of heart failure that strikes in late pregnancy or shortly after birth, a new study finds.
These undead cells point to potential ways to treat the poorly understood condition, known as postpartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM), which weakens the heart so it can't pump blood as efficiently. Symptoms of this type of heart failure range from mild to deadly, and it affects an estimated 1 in 1,000 live births in the U.S. and closer to 1 in 100 live births in Nigeria.
