Essay On Cardiomyopathy

Apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a disease that mainly affects the apex of the heart and does not cause any obstruction. [1] These abnormalities in the heart muscle can cause a wide variety of symptoms. As the heart becomes stiff it increases the pressure in the left ventricle which can push blood back into the lungs, causing shortness of breath in exercise. Chest pain can occur as there is not enough oxygen available to the cardiac muscle due to insufficient blood supply. Palpitations and lightheadedness, along with other conditions can occur as a result of HCM. In addition to these discomforting symptoms, the patient may develop an arrhythmias that often goes unnoticed. An arrhythmia takes place as the electrical conduction of the heart is disturbed by the abnormal scattering of myocytes. The two most common arrhythmias are atrial fibrillation causing palpitations, and ventricular tachycardia that can be life threatening causing sudden death. Both conditions can be controlled with medication. [4]

Young children who have hypertrophic cardiomyopathy tend to have no symptoms of their condition until

Common symptoms of Cardiomyopathy are dyspnea (breathlessness) and peripheral edema (swelling of the legs). It starts with the muscle becoming hard, thick, and engorged sometimes becoming replaced with scar tissue. As the muscle rigidifies, the heart weakens, is less bale to pump oxygen through the body, and starts to falter. Heart beat becomes irregular (called arrhythmias) and fluid can build up in lungs, ankles, feet, legs, or abdomen.

Cardiomegaly also known as Heart muscle disease has many causes from valve infection of the heart, abnormal heart valve to alcohol and cocaine use. The most common causes are coronary heart disease and high blood pressure. Symptoms include shortness of breath, leg swelling and palpitations or skipped heartbeat. Symptoms are more common when the heart has expanded to the point when it is too large and is no longer able to pump blood throughout the body effectively. Some people may never experience any symptoms. That is why it is important to talk to your doctor involving any kind of health concerns. Prevention from this disease include minimal to no drug, tobacco use, having a healthy diet and eating well to reduce the chances of high blood pressure. This is something we all can do as a start. Treatment for cardiomegaly can be medications, medical procedures or surgery. Two forms of Medical treatment are having a small device called a implantable cardioverter-defibrillator or ICD for short; implanted into upper left chest right above the heart. This device monitors heart rhythm and delivers shock when needed when the

Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a disorder caused by abnormalities in functional regions of the heart muscle. [Maron et al., 2006] It is one of two major types of cardiomyopathies, the other being hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). In DCM the ventricles are dilated with dysfunctional systolic pressure, affecting 1 in 2500 individuals. [Codd et al., 1989, Pahl, 2010] Familial DCM is diagnosed when two or more family members die or there is sudden death of a child due to DCM. [Mestroni et al., 1999] The end point for DCM is heart failure. [Pahl, 2010] Mutations in over 30 genes have been identified as the main causes of familial and sporadic DCM (~ 33% of cases) [Gru ̈nig et al., 1998; Jefferies et al., 2010; Macara 2001; Michels et al., 1992;

The rapid degeneration of myocardial fibers and diffuse inflammation lead to ventricular dilation and hypertrophy which cause atrial enlargement and stasis of blood in the left ventricle (Park, 2008). The enlargement of the remaining heart chambers is mainly due to left ventricular failure, but it may also be secondary to the primary cardiomyopathic process. Dilated cardiomyopathy is associated with both systolic and diastolic dysfunctions, with decreased systolic function being the predominant abnormality (Parker, 2008). This dysfunction leads to decreased contractility and general contractile dysfunction (Parker, 2008). Progressive dilation can lead to significant mitral and tricuspid regurgitation, which may further decrease the cardiac output and increase end-systolic volumes and ventricular wall stress. In turn, this leads to further dilation and myocardial dysfunction (Friedberg, 2008). Dilated cardiomyopathy is the most common type of heart muscle disease in pediatrics (Chow, Ateah, Scott, Ricci, & Kyle, 2013). Dilated cardiomyopathy can be a life threatening condition and can decrease life expectancy if severe damage occurs. Currently, the five-year survival rate for children diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy is between forty and eighty percent. The survival rate decreases if they child is diagnosed at five years or older (Friedberg, 2008).

It is a disease of the heart muscle that is characterized by an enlarged heart that alters its ability to function properly. DCM is a primary myocardial disease characterized by cardiac chamber enlargement, arrhythmias, and diminished cardiac contractility (Case et., al 2011). The upper and lower chambers of the heart become enlarged, with usually one side being more severe than the other. Specifically, when the lower chamber becomes enlarged, its ability to pump blood out of the lungs and body deteriorates. If this happens, fluid begins to fill the lungs and the heart becomes more overloaded which then can lead to CHF ( PetMD).

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a genetic disease that causes the heart muscle to become thickened (Maron, 2015). According to the Mayo Clinic (n.d.), hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a genetic disorder; however, environmental or lifestyle factors may influence how and when the disease appears in individuals.

On Heart Disease Coronary heart disease makes up 56% of all deaths relating to heart conditions. The heart pumps blood around the body carrying oxygen and other essential nutrients to the areas in the body where they are needed.1 Coronary Heart disease is when this process is restricted or interrupted. The coronary arteries come off the main aorta, which are the first arteries to receive freshly oxygenated blood. They pass over the surface of the heart and supply it with oxygen. The process becomes restricted because the walls of the arteries become narrowed by a gradual build-up of atheroma (fatty material).

Familial Cardiomyopathies (FC) are a collection of cardiac diseases that vary vastly genetically, and pathologically (1, 2). Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is the most common form of FC (2). HCM is diagnosed often with left ventricular hypertrophy without a noticeable increase in external load and smaller ventricular cavity, but with a preserved ejection fraction (3). That is, the percent of blood leaving the left ventricle (5) does not change. Other pathologies include interstitial fibrosis, thickening of the media in intramural arteries, and myocytes disarray greater than 5%; which is a hallmark of HCM (4). HCM shows variability in its penetrance, from a patient with no symptoms, to having sudden cardiac death (SCD)

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is characterized by interventricular septal hypertrophy (in absence of other cardiovascular conditions), causing decrease of left ventricle cavity and potentially leading to outflow obstruction. (1) (6) As a consequence of mutations in several genes encoding for thick and thin filaments which build the cardiac muscle, morphological changes occur leading to tangled, thickened myocardial fibers. It is an important cause of morbidity and mortality. Symptomatology varies a lot, from asymptomatic patients to those with severe cardiac function impairment. Some of the most common symptoms of HCM, which are not specific to this disorder may be: shortness of breath at rest or with exertion, fatigue, chest pain, arrhythmias, dizziness, but not only.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a primary disease of the myocardium (the muscle of the heart) in which a portion of the myocardium ishypertrophied (thickened) without any obvious cause. It is perhaps best known as a leading cause of sudden cardiac death in young athletes.[7] The occurrence of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a significant cause of sudden unexpected cardiac death in any age group and as a cause of disabling cardiac symptoms. Younger people are likely to have a more severe form of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Takotsubo cardiomyopathy also called as Stress-induced transient cardiomyopathy, apical ballooning syndrome, and broken heart syndrome was first reported in 1991 [1 in Japan, and accounts for 1.2% of acute coronary syndromes (ACS) that present with elevated cardiac biomarkers [1,2,3. The condition is often associated with acute medical illnesses, catastrophic life events, and intense physical or emotional stress [2, 3. Although the pathogenesis of stress-induced cardiomyopathy is not fully understood, the hypothesis includes catecholamine excess [16, coronary vasospasm, micro vascular dysfunction and dynamic mid cavity or left ventricular outflow tract obstruction. Postmenopausal women appear to be at a higher risk for developing the disease as about 80% of Takotsubo cardiomyopathy occurs in postmenopausal women [3].

Other forms of symptoms that have been reported are weight gain, fatigue, and palpation or skipped heart beat. The most common causes of an enlarged heart are blockages in the heart’s blood supply and high blood pressure “hypertension”. An enlarged heart can have many other causes, including viral infections of the heart and an abnormal heart valve. Pregnancy can also be considered another leading cause of the cardiomegaly, which is developed around the time of the delivery; in medical terms it is considered peripartum cardiomyopathy. There are kidney diseases that require dialysis, Alcohol or cocaine abuse, HIV infection, and Genetic and inherited conditions are also considered a condition in which one may open their body up to cardiomegaly. There are two types of an enlarged heart, which are called Dilative and Hypertrophic. A Dilative heart is the heart that can become enlarged due to dilation of the myocardium. A Hypertrophic heart is just as our skeletal muscle hypertrophic “growing in size” in response to increased demand; cardiac muscle undergoes hypertrophy when placed under a high workload for a prolonged period of

Oddly enough, hospitals are designed to feel tranquil and 'serene.'Ironically, the light shade of green and blue on the walls gives it that familiar to most funeral home. Its bleak institutional tile floor and the large heavy metal doors with a small frame of square window, just enough for one to peep through the inside of a private room. They are engineered to open silently without slamming made it seem morgue like. Every floor had their own reception and nurse stations, the private and semi private rooms looked identical to eachother except that the semi private rooms are separated by a curtain. One thing they had in common is that they all had waiting areas. Each room had patients, while each waiting rooms had people waiting in it.