Cardiomyopathy is a disease that affects the heart muscle. It is often caused by a genetic mutation and it can run in families. The condition can affect one or more members of the family, and at any age.

When you have cardiomyopathy, the effect it will have on you will be different from others. Some people may have many symptoms while others display none at all. 

There is no cure, corrective surgery or corrective treatment for cardiomyopathy at the moment. But we can help you to manage your symptoms to help lead as normal a life as possible.

Types of cardiomyopathy

There are different types of cardiomyopathy that you may be diagnosed with.

Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM)

Patients with DCM will have an enlarged and dilated heart. This may stretch the heart muscle and make it thinner than it should be. It affects how well the heart pumps blood out and can lead to heart failure symptoms, or arrhythmia. People with DCM often have a family member who has the disease, even if it is undiagnosed. For others, DCM can be the result of an infection, coronary artery disease, alcohol or drug abuse.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM)

HCM causes the dividing wall between and around the ventricles of the heart muscle to thicken. This thickening happens, particularly in the left ventricle. Although the heart itself can stay the same size, HCM can cause scarring within the heart muscle. This puts patients at risk of abnormal and potentially dangerous heart rhythm. People with HCM often have a family member who has the disease, though it may not have been diagnosed yet. 

Athletic (athlete's) heart, is a non-pathological condition. It is usually found in people who like strenuous or endurance exercise and causes the heart to become enlarged. Although it is considered generally benign, it can sometimes hide genuine cardiomyopathy, or be mistaken for HCM.

Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC)

ARVC  is a less common form of cardiomyopathy which replaces heart muscle cells with fat cells and scar tissue. This can reduce the heart’s ability to pump blood around, leading to an increase in developing an abnormal and potentially dangerous heart rhythm.

Most patients with ARVC will often have a family member who has the disease, although this may not have been diagnosed yet.

Left ventricular non-compaction

This occurs when a layer of the heart muscle is not compacted, which gives it a spongy appearance. Like DCM, this can sometimes dilate and thin the heart muscle.   

Less common forms of cardiomyopathy

• restrictive cardiomyopathy - the heart muscle becomes too stiff to pump blood effectively
• post-partum cardiomyopathy - a DCM which develops during the final stages of pregnancy, or just after birth
• Takotsubo cardiomyopathy - also known as broken heart syndrome

Cardiomyopathy symptoms

Symptoms, if you have any at all, can include:

• shortness of breath, on exertion or at rest, recurrent chest infections
• coughing up sputum or blood
• palpitations, and an awareness of your heart beating faster or in an irregular way
• chest pains, and/or angina pain
• abnormal heart rhythms - called arrhythmias
• fainting or near fainting
• dizziness
• swelling to the face, abdomen or extremities
• Undue tiredness
• reduced exercise tolerance

In some cases, the very first sign or symptom of cardiomyopathy is sudden and unexpected death.

Find out more about our cardiomyopathy clinics.