What is cardiomyopathy and what causes it?

ardiomyopathy is a serious disease in which the heart muscle becomes inflamed and doesn't work as well as it should. There may be multiple causes including viral infections.

Cardiomyopathy can be classified as primary or secondary. Primary cardiomyopathy can't be attributed to a specific cause, such as high blood pressure, heart valve disease, artery diseases or congenital heart defects. Secondary cardiomyopathy is due to specific causes. It's often associated with diseases involving other organs as well as the heart.

There are three main types of cardiomyopathy -- dilated, hypertrophic and restrictive.

In many cases, no cause can be found for the cardiomyopathy, regardless of the type.

Dilated cardiomyopathy may be caused by heavy alcohol intake, infection or inflammation of the heart muscle, pregnancy, high blood pressure, and/or chemotherapy.

About 60% of the cases of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy are inherited. The other 40% have no known cause.

Diseases may cause restrictive cardiomyopathy, but many times the cause is unknown. Diseases include fibrosis (tough fibers form in the heart muscle), collagen-vascular diseases and amyloidosis (the build-up of protein fibers in the heart). Some diseases that cause restrictive cardiomyopathy are inherited. These include Fabry's disease (build-up of a product of metabolism in the heart), hemochromatosis (build-up of iron in the heart), and sarcoidosis (tumor-like growths in the heart).

How Will I Know I Have Cardiomyopathy?

You may have some, or all of the following tests:

Chest x-ray is done to get a picture of the heart size and lungs.

Electrocardiogram (EKG) records the heart's electrical activity. Abnormal heartbeats, areas of damage, and heart enlargement can be found from this test.

Muga Scan is a test done with radioactive material injected into a vein. A special scanning camera makes pictures of the blood moving through the heart. It will show problems with the heart muscle and/or the valves of the heart.

Cardiac Catheterization is a procedure done with a catheter. The catheter is inserted into a vein or artery and threaded into the heart. This test measures the pressures in the heart, the pumping ability of the heart, the blood flow in the heart and coronary arteries and sometimes the electrical activity of the heart. A heart muscle biopsy may be done during the catheterization to find the cause of the cardiomyopathy.

Its where the heart muscle becomes inflammed and doesnt work as well as it should.

Viral infections are the most common cause