Cardiomyopathy

Cardiomyopathy refers to any disease that affects the heart muscle, this diminishing cardiac performance. It is a rare form of heart disease that affects only the heart muscle.

The term cardiomyopathy is derived from the word cardio, the heart, and myopathy, which indicates a weakness or disturbance of the muscle.

Cardiomyopathy occurs in three major types: dilated congestive, hypertrophic and restrictive. Dilated congestive, the most common, is the form seen in children and occur in autosomal dominant, X-linked and sporadic forms.

The heart loses its ability to pump blood and in some instances, heart rhythm is disturb, leading to irregular heartbeats or arrhythmias.

 The causes of cardiomyopathy are somewhat reflected in their names. Primary cardiomyopathy refers to cardiomyopathy of unknown etiology. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a specific type of primary cardiomyopathy in which the cause in uncertain. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is found throughout the world with a prevalence in North America of 0.2%.

Secondary cardiomyopathy is cardiomyopathy due to a well-defined systemic disease. For instance, alcoholic cardiomyopathy, as to its name implies, is due to long standing alcohol abuse.
Cardiomyopathy