Cardiomyopathy is a disease of the heart muscle that affects its ability to pump blood effectively throughout the body. It can cause the heart muscle to become enlarged, thickened, stiff, or replaced with scar tissue, leading to weakened heart function, abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias), heart failure, and other complications.
Types of Cardiomyopathy
- Dilated Cardiomyopathy: The most common type where one or more chambers of the heart enlarge and the muscle walls become stretched and thinner, reducing pumping ability.
- Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy: The heart muscle becomes abnormally thickened, which can obstruct blood flow and affect heart valve function. It often is inherited.
- Restrictive Cardiomyopathy: The heart muscle stiffens, reducing the ventricles' ability to relax and fill with blood properly. This is the least common type.
- Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy: Heart muscle cells are replaced with scar tissue or fat, causing electrical disturbances and risk of sudden cardiac death.
- Other types include stress-induced (broken heart syndrome) and transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy.
Causes and Inheritance
Cardiomyopathy can be inherited or acquired due to other diseases, toxins, infections, or unknown reasons. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is usually inherited, dilated cardiomyopathy can be inherited or caused by conditions like alcohol abuse or viral infections, and restrictive cardiomyopathy may be linked to amyloidosis or iron overload.
Symptoms
Symptoms may include shortness of breath, fatigue, chest pain, swelling in legs and abdomen, irregular heartbeats, dizziness, and fainting. Some people have no symptoms, especially in early stages.
Treatment
Treatment depends on the type and severity and may involve medications, lifestyle changes, implanted devices, surgery, or heart transplant in severe cases. The goal is to manage symptoms and prevent complications.
In summary, cardiomyopathy refers to diverse conditions affecting the heart muscle's structure and function, with multiple types, causes, symptoms, and treatments tailored to the specific form of the disease.