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Definition
By Mayo Clinic staffDilated cardiomyopathy is a disease of the heart muscle, primarily affecting your heart's main pumping chamber (left ventricle). The left ventricle becomes enlarged (dilated) and can't pump blood to your body with as much force as a healthy heart can.
Dilated cardiomyopathy doesn't necessarily cause symptoms, but for some people the disease is life-threatening. Dilated cardiomyopathy is a common cause of heart failure, the inability of the heart to supply the body's tissue and organs with enough blood. Dilated cardiomyopathy may also cause irregular heartbeats (arrhythmia), blood clots or sudden death.
Dilated cardiomyopathy may affect people of all ages, including infants and children. Treatments may be available for the underlying cause of dilated cardiomyopathy, or to improve blood flow and reduce symptoms.
- Jeffries JL, et al. Dilated cardiomyopathy. The Lancet. 2010;375:752.
- Dilated cardiomyopathy. American Heart Association. http://www.heart.org/idc/groups/heart-public/@wcm/@hcm/documents/downloadable/ucm_312224.pdf. Accessed July 3, 2011.
- Cardiomyopathy. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/cm/cm_all.html. Accessed July 3, 2011.
- Mestroni L, et al. Dilated cardiomyopathies. In: Fuster V, et al. Hurst's The Heart. 13th ed. New York, N.Y.: The McGraw-Hill Companies; 2011. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aID=7811432. Accessed July 3, 2011.
- Bashore TM, et al. Heart disease. In McPhee SJ, et al. Current Medical Diagnosis & Treatment 2011. 50th ed. New York, N.Y.: The McGraw-Hill Companies; 2011. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aID=3671. Accessed July 3, 2011.
- Hunt SA, et al. 2009 Focused update incorporated into the ACC/AHA 2005 guidelines for the diagnosis and management of heart failure in adults: A report of the American College of Cardiology Foundation/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2009;53:e1.
- Grogan M (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. July 31, 2011.
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