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Summary
Cardiomyopathy is the name for diseases of the heart muscle. These diseases enlarge your heart muscle or make it thicker and more rigid than normal. In rare cases, scar tissue replaces the muscle tissue.
Some people live long, healthy lives with cardiomyopathy. Some people don't even realize they have it. In others, however, it can make the heart less able to pump blood through the body. This can cause serious complications, including:
Heart attacks, high blood pressure, infections, and other diseases can all cause cardiomyopathy. Some types of cardiomyopathy run in families. In many people, however, the cause is unknown. Treatment might involve medicines, surgery, other medical procedures, and lifestyle changes.
NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
Diagnosis and Tests
- Heart Health Tests: MedlinePlus Health Topic (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
Related Issues
- Diastolic Dysfunction (Texas Heart Institute) Also in Spanish
- Myocarditis (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
- Myocarditis and Pericarditis after mRNA COVID-19 Vaccination (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
- Sudden Death in Young People: Heart Problems Often Blamed (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
Specifics
- Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy (ARVC) (American Academy of Family Physicians) Also in Spanish
- Dilated Cardiomyopathy (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
- Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM) (American Heart Association)
- Is Broken Heart Syndrome Real? (American Heart Association)
- Restrictive Cardiomyopathy (Texas Heart Institute) Also in Spanish
Genetics
- Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
- Barth syndrome: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
- Danon disease: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
- Dilated cardiomyopathy with ataxia syndrome: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
- Early-onset myopathy with fatal cardiomyopathy: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
- Familial dilated cardiomyopathy: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
- Familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
- Familial restrictive cardiomyopathy: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
- Keratoderma with woolly hair: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
- X-linked dilated cardiomyopathy: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
Videos and Tutorials
- Cardiomyopathy (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
Clinical Trials
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Cardiomyopathies (National Institutes of Health)
Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)
- Article: Peripartum cardiomyopathy: a comprehensive and contemporary review.
- Article: Cardiomyopathy-Associated Chronic Heart Failure in Infants Aged <1 Year: A Prospective Observational Cohort...
- Article: Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy with Defibrillator in Ischemic Versus Nonischemic Cardiomyopathy.
- Cardiomyopathy -- see more articles
Reference Desk
- Heart Anatomy (Texas Heart Institute) Also in Spanish
- How the Heart Works (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) Also in Spanish
Children
- Cardiomyopathy in Children and Teens (American Academy of Pediatrics) Also in Spanish
- Causes of Cardiomyopathy (Children's Cardiomyopathy Foundation)
- Myocarditis (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
Patient Handouts
- Cardiomyopathy (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Dilated cardiomyopathy (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Electrocardiogram (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish