Cardiomyopathy

Clinic

• It is a group of diseases that affect the heart muscle. Early on there may be few or no symptoms.

Types

• Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: Heart muscle enlarges and thickens. It is usually inherited
• Dilated cardiomyopathy: Ventricles enlarge and weaken. It is inherited in about one third of cases. It may also result from alcohol, heavy metals, coronary artery disease, cocaine use, and viral infections
• Restrictive cardiomyopathy: Ventricle stiffens, It may be caused by amyloidosis, hemochromatosis, and some cancer treatments.
• Arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia, and
• Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (broken heart syndrome): It is caused by extreme emotional or physical stress.

Signs / Symptoms

• Arrhythmia, fainting and dizziness
• Ventricular fibrillation seen on an ECG
• Fatigue
• Lower extremities edema
• Shortness of breath after exertion

Causes

• Genetic cardiomyopathies usually are caused by sarcomere or cytoskeletal diseases, neuromuscular disorders, inborn errors of metabolism, malformation syndromes and sometimes are unidentified.
• Non-genetic cardiomyopathies can have a definitive causes such as viral infections, myocarditis and others.