Cardiomyopathy

Cardiomyopathy is a descriptive term that means ‘disease of the heart muscle’: ‘cardia’ refers to the heart and ‘myopathy’ literally means an abnormality of muscle. Cardiomyopathies are disorders of the myocardium that are not secondary to coronary artery disease, hypertension, congenital, valvular, or pericardial abnormalities. Cardiomyopathy is associated with myocardial dysfunction and is classified into the following four major subtypes: hypertrophic, dilated, arrhythmogenic right ventricular, and restrictive. The aim of this chapter is to outline the background, clinical presentation, diagnosis, treatment, and the role of the nurse in the management of the cardiomyopathies.