Know the types of this heart muscle disease
Cardiomyopathy is a disease that weakens or changes the structure of your heart muscle, which makes it difficult for your heart to fill with and pump blood. This disease may progress slowly, but symptoms often continue to get worse unless you receive treatment
Types of cardiomyopathy
Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy (ARVC)
Also known as ARVC, this disease damages cells in the right chamber of the heart, which are replaced over time with fat and scar tissue. This leads to abnormal heart rhythms, or arrhythmias.
Dilated Cardiomyopathy
Dilated Cardiomyopathy is a medical condition where the lower heart chambers (ventricles) have stretched and have become thin which makes it harder for the heart to pump blood to the body.
Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) affects about one in 500 people. If the heart muscle tissue thickens too much, it can obstruct the flow of blood out of the heart or prevent the heart from pumping enough blood to the rest of the body.
Learn More About Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy
Ischemic Cardiomyopathy
Ischemic cardiomyopathy is a medical condition where heart’s left ventricle becomes enlarged and weakened because of ischemia, a lack of blood supply to the heart muscle. This condition decreases the heart’s ability to pump blood.
Learn More About Ischemic Cardiomyopathy
Peripartum Cardiomyopathy
During the last trimester of pregnancy, and up to six months after delivery, the heart chambers can enlarge and the heart muscle may become weak, causing peripartum cardiomyopathy, a rare type of heart failure.
Learn More About Peripartum Cardiomyopathy
Restrictive Cardiomyopathy
Restrictive cardiomyopathy is the rarest form of cardiomyopathy, where the heart’s lower chambers, the ventricles, expand as blood flows into the heart before a heartbeat.
Symptoms and causes
When your heart is having difficulty pumping blood, you may experience:
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Arrhythmia, or irregular heartbeat
- Coughing
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Dizziness or fainting
- Fatigue
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Palpitations, or sensations of a racing heart or fluttering in your chest
- Swelling in your feet, legs, or abdomen
Cardiomyopathy is often caused by heart conditions such as coronary artery disease, hypertension, or congenital heart disease.
It also can be an inherited genetic condition. If someone in your family has been diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, talk to your doctor about whether you should consider genetic testing to determine your risk.
Cardiomyopathy is one of the major causes of heart failure and may require a heart transplant if your condition is severe.
Tests
Angiogram (Angiography)
An angiogram is a special X-ray taken as a special dye is injected through a thin, flexible tube called a catheter to detect blockages or aneurysms in blood vessels.
Cardiac Catheterization
Cardiac catheterization is a minimally invasive way to diagnose and treat a variety of heart and vascular conditions by guiding thin, flexible tubes called catheters through blood vessels to problem areas.
Chest X-ray
Chest X-rays use a small dose of radiation to create pictures of the structures inside the chest, including the lungs, heart, and chest wall.
Computerized Tomography (CT) Scan
The cardiac computed tomography scan, or cardiac CT, uses X-rays to create three-dimensional images of your heart and blood vessels.
Echocardiogram
An echocardiogram uses high-frequency sound waves to create images of your heart.
Electrocardiogram (ECG)
An electrocardiogram, also known as an ECG, measures the heart’s electrical activity.
Electrophysiology Testing
Electrophysiology testing is used to evaluate the cause and location of an abnormal heartbeat (known as an arrhythmia).
Event Monitors
An event monitor is a small device that records the heart’s electrical activity. It’s similar to an electrocardiogram, but where an electrocardiogram takes place over a few minutes, an event monitor measures heart rhythms over a much longer time.
Heart Biopsy
In a heart biopsy, your doctor will remove small samples of your heart muscle tissue to monitor heart function or diagnose a problem.
Holter Monitors
A Holter monitor is a small device that records the heart’s electrical activity. It’s similar to an electrocardiogram, but whereas an electrocardiogram records over a few minutes, a Holter monitor records over the course of a day or two.
Loop Recorder
A loop recorder is a device that’s implanted underneath the skin of your chest to record your heart rhythm for up to 3 years.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
Magnetic resonance imaging, better known as cardiac MRI, is a combination of radio waves, magnets, and computer technology to create images of your heart and blood vessels.
Stress Tests
Stress tests are used to assess how your heart works during physical activity. There are several types of stress tests, including treadmill or bike stress tests, nuclear stress tests, stress echocardiograms, and chemically induced stress tests.
Tilt Table Test
Tilt table testing allows your doctor to determine the cause of explained fainting while monitoring changes in your blood pressure and heart rate while tilted at different angles.
Treatments
Treatment options for cardiomyopathy will depend on the cause and severity of your condition. Our heart and vascular specialists may recommend medication first, though in more severe cases, a heart transplant or surgical implant such as an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) may be needed.
Heart Failure Surgery
Surgical treatments for heart failure can include coronary bypass surgery, mechanical support devices, and heart transplants.
Heart Failure Treatment
Treatments for heart failure such as medications, surgery, and mechanical devices vary based on the cause and severity of your condition.
Inotropic Therapy
Inotropic therapy is an IV medication that can relieve symptoms of heart failure and abnormal heart rhythms.
Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD)
An implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) is a device implanted below your collarbone that monitors your heart’s rhythm. When it detects an abnormal rhythm, it delivers an electrical impulse or shock to the heart to correct it.
Pacemaker
A pacemaker is a device that helps control various types of heart rhythm disorders.
Our providers
Location: Change location Enter your location
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Bolanle A K Akinyele, MD
Cardiology
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Rebecca Michelle Burton, PA-C
Cardiology
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Amy Elizabeth Celarier, CRNP,ANP-BC
Cardiology
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Terrance Andrew Collins, MD
Cardiology
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Sarah D. Duncan, CRNP
Cardiology
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Vaani Panse Garg, MD
Cardiology
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Margaret Harvey Granitto, CRNP
Cardiology
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Richa Gupta, MD, MPH
Heart Failure And Transplantation Cardiology
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Syed Waqas Haider, MD
Cardiology
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Hayder Dhafir Hashim, MD
Interventional Cardiology
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Kristina Marie Hidalgo, ACNP-BC
Cardiology
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Bryan LeBude, MD
Cardiology
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Amy Lyn Marino, MD
Cardiology
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David B. Peichert, MD
Interventional Cardiology
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Joel Rosenberg, MD
Cardiology
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Alicia H Chaves, MD
Pediatric Cardiology
Ask MedStar Heart & Vascular Institute
Have general questions for our heart and vascular program? Email us at AskMHVI@medstar.net. If you have clinically-specific questions, please contact your physician’s office.