Pediatric Cardiomyopathies Disease Overview

cardiomyopathy means disease of the heart muscle (myocardium). Several different types of cardiomyopathy exist and the specific symptoms vary from person to person. In some affected individuals, no symptoms may be present (asymptomatic); in many people, cardiomyopathy is a progressive condition that may result in an impaired ability of the heart to pump blood; fatigue; heart block; irregular heartbeats (tachycardia); and, potentially, heart failure and sudden cardiac death. Cardiomyopathy may be termed ischemic or nonischemic. Ischemic cardiomyopathy refers to a lack of blood flow and oxygen (ischemia) to the heart and this often results from hardening of the arteries (coronary artery disease). Nonischemic cardiomyopathy refers to structural damage or malfunction of the heart muscle. Nearly all patients with pediatric cardiomyopathy have the nonischemic type. This report deals with nonischemic pediatric cardiomyopathy.