Cardiomyopathy affects about 50,000 Americans (adults and children), and often occurs in the young. It tends to be progressive and sometimes worsens fairly quickly. It may be associated with diseases involving other organs, as well as the heart. Viral infections that infect the heart are a major cause of cardiomyopathy. In some instances, cardiomyopathy is a result of another disease or its treatment, such as complex congenital (present at birth) heart disease, nutritional deficiencies, uncontrollable, fast heart rhythms, or certain types of chemotherapy for cancer. Sometimes, cardiomyopathy can be linked to a genetic abnormality.
In hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, the muscle mass of the left ventricle of the heart is thicker than normal, or the wall between the two ventricles (septum) becomes enlarged and obstructs blood flow, limiting the amount of blood pumped with each beat. In dilated cardiomyopathy, the cavity of the heart is enlarged and stretched, causing the heart to become weak and not pump normally. Restrictive cardiomyopathy makes the ventricles rigid, so they fill with less blood between heart beats.
When you come to the University of Miami Health System, you have the multidisciplinary expertise of several clinics that address, including the Center for Congenital Heart Disease in Children and Adults, the Center for Advanced Heart Failure and the Center for Cardiac Genetic Syndromes and Sports Cardiology.
- Center for Congenital Heart Disease in Children and Adults
- Center for Advanced Heart Failure
- Center for Cardiac Genetic Syndromes and Sports Cardiology
Why Choose UHealth?
Advanced heart failure therapies. Leading edge treatments include ventricular assist devices and heart transplant. For advanced heart disease, options for treatment go beyond what is available in the community to prolong life and give you or your loved one a second chance.
Multidisciplinary care by recognized specialists in their field. In complex cases, heart disease care may require the services of a cardiothoracic surgeon, an interventional cardiologist, a lung specialist, a diabetes specialist and a geneticist. Your doctors talk to each other and make sure all specialties involved in your care are on-board with a unified treatment plan.