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Complications
By Mayo Clinic staff
Having cardiomyopathy may lead to other heart conditions, including:
- Heart failure. Heart failure means your heart can't pump enough blood to meet your body's needs. The thickened, stiffened or weakened heart muscle due to cardiomyopathy can become unable to pump or can stop blood from flowing out of the heart. Left untreated, heart failure can be life-threatening.
- Blood clots. Because your heart can't pump effectively, you're more likely to have blood clots form in your heart if you have cardiomyopathy. If clots are pumped out of the heart and enter your bloodstream, they can block the blood flow to other organs, including your heart and brain. If clots develop on the right side of your heart, they may travel to your lungs (pulmonary embolism). To reduce your risk, your doctor may prescribe a blood thinner (anticoagulant medication), such as aspirin, clopidogrel (Plavix) or warfarin (Coumadin, Jantoven).
- Valve problems. Because people with dilated cardiomyopathy have an enlarged heart, two of the heart's four valves — the mitral and tricuspid valves — may not close properly, leading to a backward flow of blood. This flow creates sounds called heart murmurs.
- Cardiac arrest and sudden death. All forms of cardiomyopathy can lead to abnormal heart rhythms. Some of these heart rhythms are too slow to keep blood flowing through your heart effectively, and some are too fast to allow the heart to beat properly. In either case, these abnormal heart rhythms can result in fainting or, in some cases, sudden death if your heart stops beating.
References
- Cardiomyopathy. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/cm/. Accessed Dec. 7, 2011.
- Maron BJ, et al. Contemporary definitions and classification of the cardiomyopathies: An American Heart Association scientific statement from the Council on Clinical Cardiology, Heart Failure and Transplantation Committee; Quality of Care and Outcomes Research and Functional Genomics and Translational Biology Interdisciplinary Working Groups; and Council on Epidemiology and Prevention. Circulation. 2006;113:1807.
- Cooper LT. Definition and classification of the cardiomyopathies. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Dec. 7, 2011.
- Weigner M, et al. Causes of dilated cardiomyopathy. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Dec. 7, 2011.
- Colucci WS. Evaluation of the patient with heart failure or cardiomyopathy. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Dec. 7, 2011.
- Ammash NM, et al. Idiopathic restrictive cardiomyopathy. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Dec. 7, 2011.
- Podrid PJ, et al. Secondary and primary prevention of sudden cardiac death in heart failure and cardiomyopathies. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Dec. 7, 2011.
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