Cardiomyopathy

Sodium is the major electrolyte involved with cardiomyopathy.

Cardiomyopathy often leads to heart failure, which develops, in part, from fluid overload. Fluid overload is often associated with elevated sodium levels.

Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy should be monitored with

Echocardiograms may be performed every year from 12 to 18 years of age and then every 5 years from 18 to 70 years of age in susceptible individuals (i.e., those with a family history of HCM)

RCM may be associated with

amyloidosis (amyloid, a protein substance, is deposited within cells) and other such infiltrative diseases. However, the cause is unknown (i.e., idiopathic) in most cases.

Unclassified Cardiomyopathies

are different from or have characteristics of more than one of the previously described types and are caused by fibroelastosis, noncompacted myocardium, systolic dysfunction with minimal dilation, and mitochondrial diseases.

Cardiomyopathy it is classified according to the structural and functional abnormalities of the heart muscle:

dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), restrictive or constrictive cardiomyopathy (RCM), arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC), and unclassified cardiomyopathy

Some causes of DCM

include pregnancy, heavy alcohol intake, viral infection (e.g., influenza), chemotherapeutic medications (e.g., daunorubicin [Cerubidine], doxorubicin [Adriamycin]), and Chagas disease.

ARVC will

initially, only localized areas of the right ventricle are affected, but as the disease progresses, the entire heart is affected. Eventually, the right ventricle dilates and develops poor contractility, right ventricular wall abnormalities, and dysrhythmias.

Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

is a rare autosomal dominant condition, occurring in men, women, and children (often detected after puberty) with an estimated prevalence rate of 0.05% to 0.2% of the population in the United States.

Restrictive Cardiomyopathy

is characterized by diastolic dysfunction caused by rigid ventricular walls that impair diastolic filling and ventricular stretch (see Fig. 28-8). Systolic function is usually normal.

Cardiomyopathy

is disease of the heart muscle that is associated with cardiac dysfunction. It is classified according to the structural and functional abnormalities of the heart muscle

Dilated Cardiomyopathy

is distinguished by significant dilation of the ventricles without simultaneous hypertrophy (i.e., increased muscle wall thickness) and systolic dysfunction. The ventricles have elevated systolic and diastolic volumes but a decreased ejection fraction.

Examples of unclassified cardiomyopathies can include

left ventricular noncompaction and stress-induced (Takotsubo) cardiomyopathy.

In HCM, the heart

muscle asymmetrically increases in size and mass, especially along the septum (see Fig. 28-8). HCM often affects nonadjacent areas of the ventricle. The increased thickness of the heart muscle reduces the size of the ventricular cavities and causes the ventricles to take a longer time to relax after systole. During the first part of diastole, it is more difficult for the ventricles to fill with blood. The atrial contraction at the end of diastole becomes critical for ventricular filling and systolic contraction.

Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy

occurs when the myocardium of the right ventricle is progressively infiltrated and replaced by fibrous scar and adipose tissue.

In 2006, the American Heart Association proposed a new set of Contemporary Classifications wich divided Cardiomyopathy into two major groups based on predominant organ involvement

primary cardiomyopathies (genetic, nongenetic, and acquired), which are focused primarily on the heart muscle secondary cardiomyopathies, which show myocardial involvement secondary to the influence of a vast list of disease processes that include, but are not limited to, amyloidosis, Fabry's disease, sarcoidosis, and scleroderma