OBJECTIVE To investigate whether viral infection acts as a trigger factor for the development of dilated cardiomyopathy in genetically predisposed individuals with a family history of disease. SETTING Patients attending the cardiomyopathy unit in a cardiac tertiary referral centre. DESIGN Nested polymerase chain reaction (nPCR) was used to determine whether enteroviral, adenoviral, or cytom...

Background. Immunization with cardiac myosin induces experimental autoimmune heart disease in genetically predisposed mice. These mice produce heart-specific autoantibodies, some of which are directed against the cardiac myosin isoform. Methods and Results. We have reported the presence of circulating heart-specific autoantibodies in 26% of patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) ...

Isolated ventricular non-compaction of myocardium is an unclassified cardiomyopathy with an underlying mechanism of a morphogenetic abnormality involving an arrest of compaction of the loose myocardial meshwork during fetal ontogenesis. The diagnosis of this unusual condition can be readily mistaken for idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy and it should be considered in evaluation of patients with...

We report an unusual presentation of ganglioneuroblastoma with features of dilated cardiomyopathy in a 22 month old girl. She was admitted with cardiomegaly; during echocardiography a suspicious abdominal mass was detected by chance. Further imaging studies, including abdominal ultrasonography and spiral computed tomography, revealed a solid mass originating in the right adrenal gland. Metaboli...

1. Mahon NG, Madden BP, Caforio ALP, et al. Immunohistologic evidence of myocardial disease in apparently healthy relatives of patients with dilated cardiomyopathy. J Am Coll Cardiol 2002;39:455–62. 2. Richardson P, McKenna WJ, Bristow M, et al. Report of the 1995 World Health Organization/International Society and Federation of Cardiology Task Force on the definition and classification of card...

BACKGROUND Dilated cardiomyopathy and ischaemic heart disease can both lead to right ventricular (RV) dysfunction. Direct comparisons of the two entities regarding RV size and function using state-of-the-art imaging techniques have not yet been performed. We aimed to determine RV function and volume in dilated cardiomyopathy and ischaemic heart disease in relation to left ventricular (LV) systo...