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URL of this page: //medlineplus.gov/ency/anatomyvideos/000022.htm

Cardiomyopathy

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Overview

Cardiomyopathy refers to heart muscle disease. Here, a diseased section of wall that separates the heart chambers that pump blood out partly blocks the flow through one of them. The condition is called hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy.

To treat it, a catheter is inserted into the heart. It's used to apply concentrated alcohol that shrinks the diseased section. Now the heart can function normally.

Review Date 5/8/2024

Updated by: Thomas S. Metkus, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine and Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD. Also reviewed by David C. Dugdale, MD, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.

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