Dilated cardiomyopathy

Dilated cardiomyopathy: Introduction

Dilated cardiomyopathy: By far the most common type of nonischemic cardiomyopathy, the dilated (stretched) form occurs when disease-affected muscle fibers lead to enlargement, or dilation, ... more about Dilated cardiomyopathy.

Dilated cardiomyopathy: A rare chronic heart muscle condition where one or both heart ventricles are dilated or have impaired contractility. More detailed information about the symptoms, causes, and treatments of Dilated cardiomyopathy is available below.

Symptoms of Dilated cardiomyopathy

• No early symptoms - early stages may have no noticable symptoms
• Heart failure
  • Fatigue
  • Weakness
  • Shortness of breath
• more symptoms...»

See full list of 21 symptoms of Dilated cardiomyopathy

Home Diagnostic Testing

Home medical testing related to Dilated cardiomyopathy:

• High Blood Pressure: Home Testing
  • Home Blood Pressure Hypertension Tests
  • Home Blood Pressure Monitors
  • Home Heart Tests
• Heart Health: Home Testing:
  • Heart Rate Monitors
  • Irregular Heartbeat Detection
  • Heart Electrocardiogram (ECG)
  • Home Blood Pressure Testing
  • Home Cholesterol Testing
• more tests...»

Dilated cardiomyopathy: Complications

Review possible medical complications related to Dilated cardiomyopathy:

• Heart failure
• Irregular heartbeat
• End-stage heart failure
• Sudden death
• more complications...»

Medical Textbooks Online about Dilated cardiomyopathy

Book excerpts: Copyright © 2008 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. All rights reserved.

Diagnostic Tests for Dilated cardiomyopathy

• Physical exam
• Chest x ray
• Electrocardiogram
• Echocardiogram
• Radionuclide ventriculogram
• more tests...»

See full list of 6 diagnostic tests for Dilated cardiomyopathy

Wrongly Diagnosed with Dilated cardiomyopathy?

• Misdiagnosis of Dilated cardiomyopathy
• Failure to diagnose Dilated cardiomyopathy
• Hidden causes of Dilated cardiomyopathy (possibly wrongly diagnosed)
• Undiagnosed: Dilated cardiomyopathy

Dilated cardiomyopathy: Self Assessment Tools

• Stroke -- Self Assessment Tools
• Heart Attack -- Self Assessment Tools
• Stress -- Self Assessment Tools
• Smoking -- Self Assessment Tools
• Weight Management -- Self Assessment Tools
• Heart Disease -- Self Assessment Tools
• more tools...»

Dilated cardiomyopathy: Medical Mistakes

• Hypertension -- Health Mistakes
• Cholesterol -- Health Mistakes
• Obesity -- Health Mistakes
• Diabetes -- Health Mistakes
• Metabolic Syndrome -- Health Mistakes
• more mistakes...»

Dilated cardiomyopathy: Marketplace Products, Discounts & Offers

Products, offers and promotion categories available for Dilated cardiomyopathy:

• Dieting & Weight management: products & offers »
• Heart health products & offers »
• High cholesterol
• more product offers...»

Dilated cardiomyopathy: Undiagnosed Conditions

Commonly undiagnosed diseases in related medical categories:

• Chronic Major Diseases that are commonly Undiagnosed:
  • High Cholesterol -- Undiagnosed
  • Heart Disease -- Undiagnosed
  • Cancer -- Undiagnosed
  • Depression -- Undiagnosed
  • Type 2 Diabetes -- Undiagnosed
  • Type 1 Diabetes -- Undiagnosed
  • Hypertension -- Undiagnosed
  • Hemochromatosis -- Undiagnosed
  • Metabolic Syndrome -- Undiagnosed
• more undiagnosed conditions...»

Misdiagnosis and Dilated cardiomyopathy

Heart attacks can be undiagnosed: Although the most severe symptoms of heart attack are hard to miss, there are varying degrees of severity. It is altogether too...read more »

Heart attacks can be overdiagnosed: Although many people die from heart attacks, there are also many cases where people fear that they have a heart attack, but actually have something milder. Some of the conditions...read more »

Rare heart condition often undiagnosed: The rare heart condition called long QT syndrome can lead to episodes of palpitations and rapid...read more »

Heart attack can be over-diagnosed: Although heart attack is often undiagnosed, leading to fatality, it can also be over-diagnosed. People become concerned that a condition is a heart attack,...read more »

Blood pressure cuffs misdiagnose hypertension in children: One known misdiagnosis issue with hyperension, arises in relation to the simple equipment used to test blood pressure. The "cuff" around the arm to...read more »

Hypertension misdiagnosis common in children: Hypertension is often misdiagnosed in adults (see misdiagnosis of hypertension), but its misdiagnosis is even more likely in children. Some of the symptoms of...read more »

Read more about Misdiagnosis and Dilated cardiomyopathy

Dilated cardiomyopathy: Research Doctors & Specialists

Research related physicians and medical specialists:

• Muscle and Orthopedic Specialists:
  • Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine
  • Orthopedic Surgery
• Cholesterol Specialists:
  • Clinical Lipidology (Cholesterol/Triglycerides)
  • Diabetes, Endocrinology & Metabolism
• Cardiac (Heart) Specialists:
  • Cardiology (Heart specialists)
  • Pediatric Cardiology (Child Heart Specialists)
  • Cardiothoracic Surgery
  • Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology
  • Interventional Cardiology
• more specialists...»

Other doctor, physician and specialist research services:

• Rate Your Doctor Online
• Research Your Doctor Online
• Review Patient Surveys About Your Doctor
• Research local specialists including ratings, affiliations, and sanctions.

Hospitals & Clinics: Dilated cardiomyopathy

Research quality ratings and patient safety measures for medical facilities in specialties related to Dilated cardiomyopathy:

• Heart Health (Cardiac Care) -- Hospital Quality Ratings
• more hospital ratings...»

Hospital & Clinic quality ratings » »

Choosing the Best Hospital: More general information, not necessarily in relation to Dilated cardiomyopathy, on hospital performance and surgical care quality:

• 50 Best Hospitals Report
• Outstanding Patient Experinece Award Winning Hospitals
• Women's Health Best Hospitals
• Patient Safety
• Hospital Quality and Clinical Excellence Study (2009)

Dilated cardiomyopathy: Rare Types

Rare types of diseases and disorders in related medical categories:

• Chronic Major Diseases -- Rare Types:
  • High Cholesterol -- Rare Types
  • Heart Disease -- Rare Types
  • Cancer -- Rare Types
  • Depression -- Rare Types
  • Type 2 Diabetes -- Rare Types
  • Type 1 Diabetes -- Rare Types
  • Hypertension -- Rare Types
  • Hemochromatosis -- Rare Types
  • Metabolic Syndrome -- Rare Types
• more rare diseases...»

Causes of Dilated cardiomyopathy

• Excessive alcohol
• Pregnancy
• Childbirth
• Viral myocarditis (type of Myocarditis)
• Toxins
• more causes...»

See full list of 7 causes of Dilated cardiomyopathy

More information about causes of Dilated cardiomyopathy:

• Medications, drugs, or substances causing Dilated cardiomyopathy (2 listings)
• Underlying causes of Dilated cardiomyopathy
• Dilated cardiomyopathy as a complication caused by other conditions
• Dilated cardiomyopathy as a symptom

Treatments for Dilated cardiomyopathy

• Medications
  • Diuretics
  • Vasodilators
  • ACE inhibitors
  • Digitalis
• more treatments...»

See full list of 15 treatments for Dilated cardiomyopathy

Latest Treatments for Dilated cardiomyopathy

• Anticoagulation
• Disopyramide
• Amiodarone
• Carnitine
• Digoxin
• more treatments...»

See full list of 12 latest treatments for Dilated cardiomyopathy

Evidence Based Medicine Research for Dilated cardiomyopathy

Medical research articles related to Dilated cardiomyopathy include:

• Implication of QRS prolongation and its relation to mechanical dyssynchrony in idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy in childhood
• Antithrombotic therapy in neonates and children. American College of Chest Physicians evidence-based clinical practice guidelines (8th edition).
• Clinical and prognostic value of Duke`s Activity Status Index along with plasma B-type natriuretic peptide levels in chronic heart failure secondary to ischemic or idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy
• Sudden Cardiac Arrest Associated with Early Repolarization.
• At what age should one begin screening children where there is a family history of dilated cardiomyopathy?
• more research...»

Click here to find more evidence-based articles on the TRIP Database

Videos for Dilated cardiomyopathy

Patient Surveys for Dilated cardiomyopathy

• Patient Profile Survey
  Take Survey  View Results
• Survey about the symptoms of your Dilated cardiomyopathy
  Take Survey  View Results

Prognosis for Dilated cardiomyopathy

Prognosis for Dilated cardiomyopathy: Typically poor because usually diagnosed late. 5-year survival 50%. 10-year survival 25%.

More about prognosis of Dilated cardiomyopathy

Reseach about Dilated cardiomyopathy

Visit our research pages for current research about Dilated cardiomyopathy treatments.

Clinical Trials for Dilated cardiomyopathy

The US based website ClinicalTrials.gov lists information on both federally and privately supported clinical trials using human volunteers.

Some of the clinical trials listed on ClinicalTrials.gov for Dilated cardiomyopathy include:

• Role of Left Ventricular Pacing Site - This study is currently recruiting patients (Current: 23 Nov 2006)
• Resynchronization Therapy in Young Patients With and Without CHD - This study is currently recruiting patients (Current: 23 Nov 2006)
• Cell Therapy In Dilated Cardiomyopathy - This study is currently recruiting patients (Current: 23 Nov 2006)
• Therapy With Verapamil or Carvedilol in Chronic Heart Failure - This study is currently recruiting patients (Current: 23 Nov 2006) - Verapamil,Carvedilol
• Pediatric Heart Network - This study is currently recruiting patients (Current: 23 Nov 2006)
• more trials...»

See full list of 17 Clinical Trials for Dilated cardiomyopathy

Statistics for Dilated cardiomyopathy

• Medical statistics for Dilated cardiomyopathy
• Prevalence and incidence statistics for Dilated cardiomyopathy
• Death and Mortality statistics for Dilated cardiomyopathy
• Society statistics for Dilated cardiomyopathy

Dilated cardiomyopathy: Broader Related Topics

• Heart conditions
• Cardiomyopathy
• more types...»

Types of Dilated cardiomyopathy

Stories from Users Related to Dilated cardiomyopathy

• Congestion for over 6 months
• Please help me with questions of cardiomyopathy
• Always thirsty, always congested
• Sinus congestion for over 6 months
• Unexplained hepatomegaly and sinusoidal dilation
• there must be more to treatment for cardiomyopathy than this.....
• Takot Subo Cardiomyopathy.
• persistent congestion after spermatocele
• cronic congestion

Related forums and medical stories:

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  • heart skips
  • Wpw
  • calf aches
  • Endocarditis from Cellulitis
  • More user stories

User Interactive Forums

Read about other experiences, ask a question about Dilated cardiomyopathy, or answer someone else's question, on our message boards:

• I can not get a diagnosis. Please help.
• Tell us your medical story.
• Share your misdiagnosis story.
• What is the best treatment for this?
• See all the forums.

Article Excerpts about Dilated cardiomyopathy

By far the most common type of nonischemic cardiomyopathy, the dilated (stretched) form occurs when disease-affected muscle fibers lead to enlargement, or dilation, of one or more chambers of the heart. This weakens the heart's pumping ability. The heart tries to cope with the pumping limitation by further enlarging and stretching--a process known as "compensation." (Source: excerpt from NHLBI, Cardiomyopathy: NHLBI)

Definitions of Dilated cardiomyopathy:

A form of CARDIAC MUSCLE disease that is characterized by ventricular dilation, contractile dysfunction of the left or both HEART VENTRICLES, and congestive heart failure (HEART FAILURE, CONGESTIVE) symptoms. Risk factors include ETHANOL and TOBACCO abuse, PREGNANCY; HYPERTENSION; INFECTION; and mutations in the LMNA gene encoding LAMIN TYPE A, a NUCLEAR LAMINA protein. - (Source - Diseases Database)