Restrictive cardiomyopathy symptoms, diagnosis and treatment

What is Restrictive cardiomyopathy :

The core is formed by an outer shell (pericardium), a muscular layer (myocardium) and an inner wrapper (endocardium). Restrictive cardiomyopathy is a rare heart disease in which there is a thickening of the myocardium preventing the heart to enlarge and fill properly.

How does it occur ?

The myocardium is the muscle of the heart to perform its function of pump. In restrictive cardiomyopathy, the heart becomes so rigid that you can not relax properly during diastole, during the time in which is dilated and the blood returns to the heart filling. In more advanced stages may be affected also function contraction (systole) and pump blood.

The cause of this disease may be unknown (often occurs after a heart transplant), or due to diseases that cause the heart muscle to thicken as amyloidosis, hemochromatosis and sarcoidosis, some tumor infiltration or radiation fibrosis .

Restrictive cardiomyopathy Symptoms

The inability for adequate filling of the heart generates a series of symptoms resulting from a pumping less blood appearing dyspnea or shortness of breath, fatigue, and fluid accumulation in the legs (edema), abdomen (ascites) and enlargement of the liver.

Restrictive cardiomyopathy Diagnosis

Diagnosis is based on physical examination and medical signs and abnormal cardiac auscultation and distended neck veins. Furthermore, based on a series of tests:

• Disturbances electrocardiogram recording.
• Echocardiography and MRI allow show thickening of the walls of the ventricles and the difficulty of relaxation thereof.
• Cardiac catheterization is a test that by introducing a catheter reaches the heart chambers to measure the pressure and the amount of blood pumped by the heart with each contraction. In restrictive cardiomyopathy heart stiffness remains high pressures and ejects less blood.
• Heart muscle biopsy. Restrictive cardiomyopathy may be difficult to distinguish from other disease (constrictive pericarditis). The heart muscle biopsy can take a sample of muscle tissue that appears thickened cardiomyopathy.

Restrictive cardiomyopathy Treatment

Treatment is usually ineffective and is mainly focused on improving heart function deteriorated and its consequences and the quality of life of patients.

Is advised salt restriction diet and drugs that facilitate the function of the heart and removing fluids (diuretics).

It also indicates the specific treatment of the underlying disease that is causing cardiomyopathy in cases possible.

In certain circumstances and corticosteroids may be used if cardiac function is severely damaged heart transplantation can be considered.

Restrictive cardiomyopathy Prevention

There are no known measures to prevent this disease.