VEGFA and peripartum cardiomyopathy: Other prominent clinical examples where hypertension and cardiomyopathy are at play along with VEGF receptor decoy dynamics are preeclampsia and peripartum cardiomyopathy.39 In these women, soluble FLT-1 (sFLT-1), which is the non-membrane bound VEGF receptor 1 that can function as a decoy for VEGF, is secreted by the placenta in late gestation and significantly increased circulating levels are noted in women with peripartum cardiomyopathy, effects that are amplified when combined with preeclampsia.