Cardiomyopathy is the measurable deterioration for any reason of the ability of the myocardium (the heart muscle) to contract, usually leading to heart failure.
Include:
a) Dyspnea: Breathlessness with exertion or even at rest
b) Peripheral edema: Swelling of the legs, ankles and feet
c) Bloating of the abdomen due to fluid buildup
d) Cough while lying down
e) Fatigue
f) Irregular heartbeats that feel rapid, pounding or fluttering
g) Chest pain
h) Dizziness, lightheadedness and fainting
Include:
a) Physical exam
b) Family history
c) Blood test
d) EKG
e) Echocardiogram
f) Stress test
g) Genetic testing
The overall goals of treatment for cardiomyopathy are to manage your signs and symptoms, prevent your condition from worsening, and reduce your risk of complications.
Treatment varies by which major type of cardiomyopathy you have.
a) Dilated cardiomyopathy
If you're diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy, doctor may recommend treatment including:
• Medications. Doctor may prescribe medications to improve heart's pumping ability and function, improve blood flow, lower blood pressure, slow your heart rate, remove excess fluid from your body or keep blood clots from forming.
• Surgically implanted devices. If you're at risk of serious heart rhythm problems, doctor may recommend you an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) — a device that monitors your heart rhythm and delivers electric shocks when needed to control abnormal heart rhythms.
In some cases, your doctor may recommend a pacemaker that coordinates the contractions between the right and left ventricles (biventricular pacemaker).
b) Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
If you're diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, your doctor may recommend several treatments, including:
• Medications. Doctor may prescribe medications to relax your heart, slow its pumping action and stabilize its rhythm.
• Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD). If you're at risk of serious heart rhythm problems, your doctor may recommend an ICD to monitor your heart rhythm and deliver electric shocks when needed to control abnormal heart rhythms.
• Septal myectomy. In a septal myectomy, your surgeon removes part of the thickened heart muscle wall (septum) that separates the two bottom heart chambers (ventricles). Removing part of the heart muscle improves blood flow through the heart and reduces mitral valve regurgitation.
• Septal ablation. In septal ablation, a small portion of the thickened heart muscle is destroyed by injecting alcohol through a long, thin tube (catheter) into the artery supplying blood to that area.
c) Restrictive cardiomyopathy
Treatment for restrictive cardiomyopathy focuses on improving symptoms.
• Pay careful attention to your salt and water intake and monitor your weight daily.
• Recommend you take diuretics if sodium and water retention becomes a problem. You may be prescribed medications to lower your blood pressure or control abnormal heart rhythms.
If the cause of your restrictive cardiomyopathy is found, treatment will also be directed at the underlying disease, such as amyloidosis.
d) Arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia
If you have arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia, your doctor may recommend treatment including:
• Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD). If you're at risk of dangerous heart rhythms, your doctor may recommend an ICD. An ICD monitors your heart rhythm and delivers electric shocks when needed to control abnormal heart rhythms.
• Medications. If an ICD isn't appropriate to treat your condition, or if you have an ICD and have frequent fast heart rhythms, doctor may prescribe medications to regulate your heart rhythm.
• Radiofrequency ablation. If other treatments aren't controlling your abnormal heart rhythms, radiofrequency ablation may recommend
In this procedure, doctors guide long, flexible tubes (catheters) through your blood vessels to your heart. Electrodes at the catheter tips transmit energy to damage a small spot of abnormal heart tissue that is causing the abnormal heart rhythm.
e) Ventricular assist devices (VADs)
Ventricular assist devices (VADs) can help blood circulate through your heart. They usually are considered after less invasive approaches are unsuccessful. These devices can be used as a long-term treatment or as a short-term treatment while waiting for a heart transplant.
f) Heart transplant
Consult at Aadil Hospital for medical and surgical treatment.
