see:
http://www.medizinische-abkuerzungen.de/


What are the types of cardiomyopathy?

There are three major types of cardiomyopathy – dilated cardiomyopathy, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and restrictive cardiomyopathy. The vast majority of patients who develop cardiomyopathy have the dilated form. So, after briefly describing hypertrophic and restrictive cardiomyopathies, we will concentrate on dilated cardiomyopathy for the remainder of this article.

In dilated cardiomyopathy (often referred to as congestive cardiomyopathy or congestive heart failure), previously normal heart muscle becomes damaged, leading to a generalized weakening of the walls of the cardiac chambers. To compensate for the weakening of their muscular walls, the cardiac chambers dilate. (The dilation of the cardiac chambers, especially of the left ventricle, is often referred to as "remodeling.") The weakening and the dilation of the heart muscle eventually lead to heart failure.

What causes dilated cardiomyopathy?

... Another common cause of dilated cardiomyopathy is inflammation of the heart muscle, a condition called myocarditis. Myocarditis is most often caused by viral infections, but can also be caused by bacterial infections and by non-infectious causes such as lupus and other inflammatory diseases.

http://heartdisease.about.com/cs/heartfailure/a/CHF1.htm


Myocarditis and dilated cardiomyopathy: An inflammatory link

Jay W Mason*
Department of Internal Medicine, J527 Kentucky Clinic 0284, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506, USA

Myocarditis is, by definition, an inflammatory disorder, while dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is, in most cases, idiopathic. However, accumulating data has revealed an important inflammatory component in the pathogenesis of DCM, and there is growing evidence that myocarditis and DCM are closely related. The purpose of this review is to demonstrate the interrelationship between the two. This topic was authoritatively reviewed in 1999 by Kawai [1]. By examining the pathogenesis of myocarditis we will consider mechanisms by which viral myocarditis might cause dilated cardiomyopathy. We will then review the basic and clinical evidence supporting the claim that myocarditis is a common precursor of DCM.
http://cardiovascres.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/60/...