Dilated cardiomyopathy is a prevalent and often fatal disease in humans and dogs. Indeed dilated cardiomyopathy is the third most common form of cardiac disease in humans, reported to affect approximately 36 individuals per 100,000 individuals. In dogs, dilated cardiomyopathy is the second most common cardiac disease and is most prevalent in the Irish Wolfhound, Doberman Pinscher and Newfoundla...

Background and objectives Patients with Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM) and Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM) frequently demonstrate non-ischemic pattern myocardial fibrosis (MF) on delayed enhancement magnetic resonance imaging (DE-MRI). The clinical significance of this finding with respect to impact on Quality of Life (QOL) is poorly understood. In this study we identify the prevalence of MF in...

BACKGROUND Left ventricular assist device (LVAD) is being increasingly used in patients with end-stage dilated and ischemic cardiomyopathy. There have been no clinical trials addressing the use of LVAD therapy in patients with end-stage heart failure caused by restrictive (RCM) or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). The purpose of this study was therefore to analyze the outcome of LVAD therapy i...

Objective: Despite the indubitable beneficial effect of exercise to prevent of cardiovascular diseases, there is still a lack of studies investigating the impact of exercise in non-ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy. Here, we investigated the impact of voluntary exercise on cardiac function in a mouse model of non-ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy (αMHC-MerCreMer:Sf/Sf), induced by cardiac-specific ...

MicroRNA has been shown to be essential for correct cardiovascular development and physiology in a number of recent reports. Studies have also started to characterize the link between specific microRNAs and aspects of pathogenesis--such as chamber morphogenesis, conduction, and contraction--and between microRNA expression signatures and pathological cardiac phenotypes--such as hypertrophy, isch...

Non-compaction of the left ventricle is an extremely rare cardiomyopathy resulting from a defective morphogenesis of the endomyocardium. It results in an architecturally aberrant ventricular wall consisting of two layers: a compacted layer and a loose interwoven meshwork with prominent trabeculae and deep intertrabecular recesses that communicate with the left ventricular cavity. This report de...

BACKGROUND Myocardial infarction can result in a spectrum of left ventricular (LV) shape abnormalities. Surgical ventricular restoration (SVR) can be applied to any, but there are no data that relate its effectiveness to LV shape. Moreover, there is no consensus on the benefit of SVR in patients with a markedly dilated ventricle, without clear demarcation between scarred and normal tissue. This...