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Causes
By Mayo Clinic staff
Dilated cardiomyopathy occurs when your heart's main pumping chamber, the left ventricle, doesn't pump as efficiently as a healthy heart. The muscles of the left ventricle stretch and become thinner (dilate). Dilating causes the heart muscle to weaken, and over time, the condition can cause heart failure.
Causes of cardiomyopathy are often unknown
In many cases, the cause of dilated cardiomyopathy can't be determined. Such cases are usually called idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy.
Researchers have found several genes that are linked to dilated cardiomyopathy and continue to search for more.
- Cardiomyopathy. National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/cm/cm_all.html. Accessed July 14, 2009.
- Cooper LT. Definition and classification of the cardiomyopathies. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed July 14, 2009.
- 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.
- Weigner M, et al. Causes of dilated cardiomyopathy. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed July 14, 2009.
- Hershberger RE. Genetics of dilated cardiomyopathy. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed July 14, 2009.
- 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 July 14, 2009.
- Heart failure. National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/Hf/HF_All.html. Accessed July 14, 2009.
- Hare JM. The dilated, restrictive and infiltrative cardiomyopathies. In Libby P. Braunwald's Heart Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine. 8th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2007. http://www.mdconsult.com/book/player/book.do?method=display&type=bookPage&decorator=header&eid=4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-4106-1..50067-4&uniq=151686941&isbn=978-1-4160-4106-1&sid=867495152#lpState=open&lpTab=contentsTab&content=4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-4106-1..X5001-8--TOP%3Bfrom%3Dcontent%3Bisbn%3D978-1-4160-4106-1%3Btype%3DbookHome. Accessed July 14, 2009.
