Cardiomyopathy

Cardiomyopathy is a disease that affects your myocardium (heart muscle). Cardiomyopathy can make your heart stiffen, enlarge or thicken and can cause scar tissue. As a result, your heart can’t pump blood effectively to the rest of your body.

In time, your heart can weaken and cardiomyopathy can lead to heart failure. Treatment can help. Some people with cardiomyopathy eventually need a heart transplant.

Types of cardiomyopathy

Types of cardiomyopathy include:

• Dilated cardiomyopathy.
• Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
• Ischemic cardiomyopathy.
• Arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia (ARVD).
• Restrictive cardiomyopathy.
• Transthyretin amyloidosis cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM).
• Broken heart syndrome (stress-induced or takotsubo cardiomyopathy).
• Chemotherapy-induced cardiomyopathy.
• Alcohol-induced cardiomyopathy.
• Left ventricular non-compaction (LVNC).
• Peripartum cardiomyopathy.

How common is cardiomyopathy?

Cardiomyopathy can affect anyone of any age, sex or race. The most common inherited cardiomyopathy, hypertrophic, affects about 1 in 500 people in the world. Other genetic types occur in 1 in 2,000 or 2,500 people.