To assess the natural history and potential risk factors in childhood dilated cardiomyopathy, we investigated 25 patients (ages 9.6 +/- 4.4 years) who presented after they were 2 years old. All patients had symptoms of congestive heart failure and reduced contractility with a dilated left ventricle at presentation. Two factors at presentation were significantly different between patients who di...

OBJECTIVE To assess the health related quality of life and psychological wellbeing of patients with dilated cardiomyopathy, and relate these to clinical variables and psychological adjustment. DESIGN Postal questionnaire survey of 99 adult patients with dilated cardiomyopathy, selected at random from a larger database (60.6% response rate). Assessments included the short form 36 (SF-36) healt...

BACKGROUND Ventricular tachycardia (VT) is a common manifestation of advanced cardiomyopathies. In a subset of patients with dilated cardiomyopathy, VT is the initial and the cardinal manifestation of the disease. The molecular genetic basis of this subset of dilated cardiomyopathy is largely unknown. METHODS AND RESULTS We identified 10 patients with dilated cardiomyopathy who presented with...

The heart is the first organ to form and to function during vertebrate embryogenesis and its correct functionality is a “conditio sine qua non” for life. If the heart’s pumping power is compromised, chambers dilate and pulmonary and systemic circulations are altered. Dilated cardiomyopathy can appear along a wide spectrum of presentations, including no symptoms, subtle symptoms or heart failure...

Disturbances of humoral and cellular immunity are common in patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy and they may contribute to the initiation and maintenance of myocardial damage. HLA antigens were studied in 102 patients with dilated cardiomyopathy and a control hospital population. HLA-DR4 was significantly more common in patients with idiopathic cardiomyopathy (41 patients, 40%) than...

Mitochondrial dysfunction and metabolic remodelling are pivotal in the development of cardiomyopathy. Here, we show that myocardial COUP-TFII overexpression causes heart failure in mice, suggesting a causal effect of elevated COUP-TFII levels on development of dilated cardiomyopathy. COUP-TFII represses genes critical for mitochondrial electron transport chain enzyme activity, oxidative stress ...

  Transient ischemic left ventricular dilation (TID) is a marker of severe and extensive coronary artery disease as well as an increased risk of adverse outcomes. The patients with more severe and extensive ischemia, multivessel-type of perfusion abnormality as well as patients with left anterior descending artery (LAD) territory perfusion abnormality have more probab...

Recent trends indicate that patients with nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy represent the largest subpopulation of heart failure patients with a significant need for alternative treatment modalities. Similar to patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy, patients with nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy have been found to have myocardial regions with flow abnormalities, which may represent targets f...