Types of Cardiomyopathy Cont
Restrictive Cardiomyopathy
Restrictive cardiomyopathy tends to mostly affect older adults. In this cardiomyopathy, the ventricles become stiff and rigid due to replacement of the normal heart muscle with abnormal tissue, such as scar tissue. As a result, the ventricles cannot relax normally and expand to fill with blood, which causes the atria to become enlarged. Eventually, blood flow in the heart is reduced, and complications such as heart failure or arrhythmias occur.
Restrictive cardiomyopathy can occur for no known reason, or it can develop because the person has another disease. Some of the diseases that can cause restrictive cardiomyopathy include hemochromatosis, sarcoidosis, amyloidosis, and connective tissue disorders. Restrictive cardiomyopathy also can occur as a result of radiation treatments, infections, or scarring after surgery.
Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Dysplasia
Arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia (ARVD) is a rare type of cardiomyopathy which develops when the muscle tissue in the right ventricle dies and is replaced with scar tissue. This process causes problems in the heart's electrical signaling, resulting in arrhythmias. Symptoms include a feeling of strong or irregular heartbeats (palpitations) and fainting after exercise.
ARVD usually develops in teens or young adults and is often the cause of sudden cardiac death in young athletes. ARVD is thought to be an inherited disease
Other Names for Cardiomyopathy
- Dilated cardiomyopathy
- Familial dilated cardiomyopathy
- Congestive cardiomyopathy
- Idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy
- Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
- Hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy
- Asymmetric septal hypertrophy
- Idiopathic hypertrophic subaortic stenosis
- Familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
- Arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia
- Right ventricular dysplasia
- Right ventricular cardiomyopathy
- Restrictive cardiomyopathy
- Arrhythmogenic ventricular cardiomyopathy