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Cardiomyopathy ('Heart Muscle Disease’)
- intrinsic/principal diseases of the myocardium, as opposed to dysfunctions secondary to ischemia,
- valvular, or hypertensive diseases
- regardless of the cause (genetic, acquired, idiopathic), cardiac (ventricular) dysfunction is the key problem
- can be broken down into 3 categories: dilated (90%), hypertrophic, or restrictive (less common)

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Primary Cardiomyopathies
disease solely or predominantly confined to the heart muscle
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Secondary Cardiomyopathies
heart is a part of generalized multi-organ disorder
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What is the most common form of cardiomyopathy?
- Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM)
- progressive hypertrophy & dilation of all 4 chambers
- leads to systolic (contractile) failure
- heart enlarged to 3-4x normal size & flabby w/ dilation of all chambers
- while the cause is usually unknown (idiopathic), other conditions may be implicated (eg. infections, drugs, toxins, metabolic/neuromuscular abnormalities, etc.)
- if idiopathic it's likely to be of genetic origin affecting genes that encode cytoskeletal/sarcomere/mitochondrial proteins
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What's the fundamental defect in dilated cardiomyopathy?
- ineffective contraction
- clinically manifests as slowly progressing congestive heart failure
- symptoms: dyspnea, easily fatigable, poor exertional capacity
- in end-stage DCM cardiac ejection fraction is typically less than 25% & cardiac transplantation is the ONLY definitive treatment
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Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy
- myocardial hypertrophy, abnormal diastolic filling, & in 1/3 of cases, intermittent ventricular outflow obstruction
- MASSIVE myocardial hypertrophy, usually w/o ventricular dilation
- the degree of hypertrophy is out of proportion to the hemodynamic load
- concentric hypertrophy seen in 10% of case
 - can see characteristic "banana-shaped" ventricular lumen
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What causes Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy?
- missense point mutation in 1 of several genes encoding the sarcomeric proteins that form the
- contractile apparatus of striated muscle (myosin, troponin, tropomyosin etc.)
- may be related to defects in force generation that come about from altered sarcomere function
- is usually autosomal dominant however a significant portion of cases develop as sporadic mutations w/o a family history
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How can the septum & left ventricular free wall be characterized in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy?
in most cases it presents w/ asymmetrical septal hypertrophy, meaning there is a disproportionate thickening of the ventricular septum as compared with the free wall of the left ventricle
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Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Myofiber Characteristics
- there is myofiber disarray w/ hypertrophic & branching myocytes running in various orientations instead of the usual parallel arrangements
- there can also be interstitial & replacement fibrosis
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Restrictive Cardiomyopathy
- a disease of the myocardium characterized by a primary decrease in ventricular compliance, resulting in impaired ventricular filling during diastole
- myocardial stiffness limits diastolic filling but contractile functions remain NORMAL
- ventricles are of normal or slightly enlarged size, cavities are NOT dilated, & the myocardium is firm
- is the LEAST common category of cardiomyopathy in Western countries
- condition invariably progresses to congestive heart failure & only 10% of patients survive for 10 years
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What are some of the causes of restrictive cardiomyopathy?
- 1. interstitial infiltration of amyloid, metastatic
- carcinoma, or sarcoid granulomas
- 2. endomyocardial diseases
- 3. storage diseases, including hemochromatosis
- 4. markedly increased interstitial tissue
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Myocarditis
- inflammation of the myocardium associated w/ myocyte necrosis & degeneration
- the inflammation is the primary cause of the disease (as opposed to a response to myocardial injury like in ischemic heart disease)
- is most common in CHILDREN between 1–10 yrs. old & can cause acute biventricular heart failure in previously individuals
- severe myocarditis can cause arrhythmias & sudden cardiac death
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Causes of Myocarditis
- 1. viral infections (most common) like coxsackieviruses; injury is caused by an immune response directed against virally infected myocardial cells
- 2. nonviral infectious myocarditis like Chagas disease (caused by Trypanosoma cruzi); others = Trichinosis, Lyme disease (Borrelia burgdorferi)
- 3. hypersensitivity & immunologically related diseases like Rheumatic fever, systemic lupus erythematosus, drug reaction (penicillin, sulfonamide etc.)
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Myocarditis Morphology
- diffuse myocardial degeneration & necrosis w/ an inflammatory infiltrate
- lymphocytic myocarditis shows infiltration of mononuclear inflammatory cells + associated myocyte injury
 - hypersensitivity myocarditis shows interstitial inflammatory infiltrate w/ eosinophils & mononuclear inflammatory cells
 - giant cell myocarditis shows mononuclear inflammatory infiltrate w/ lymphocytes, macrophages, extensive loss of muscle, & multinucleated giant cells
- chagas disease shows myofibers distended w/ trypanosomes + surrounding inflammatory reaction & individual myofiber necrosis
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Myxomas
- a tumor of primitive connective tissue that is the most common primary tumor of the heart in adults
- it's a benign tumor often associated w/ clonal abnormalities of chromosomes 12 & 17 and is thought to arise from primitive multipotent mesenchymal cells
- most cases show up in the L atrium as a glistening, gelatinous, polypoid mass, w/ a loose myxoid stroma (stellate or globular myxoma cells) embedded in a background of abundant proteoglycans
- has characteristic vessel or gland-like structures
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What are the possible complications of a myxoma?
while the benign tumor won't metastasize, it can EMBOLIZE & causes death in 1/3 of the patients (brain embolization)
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Pericardial Effusion
- the accumulation of excessive fluid within the pericardial cavity, either as transudate or exudate
- normal pericardial fluid is ~30-50 mL but effusion can reach several hundred mL
- can cause cardiac Tamponade, a syndrome produced by the rapid accumulation of pericardial fluid that restricts the filling of the heart
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Hemopericardium
- bleeding directly into the pericardial cavity
- caused by penetrating cardiac trauma, rupture of a dissecting aneurysm of the aorta, infiltration of a vessel by tumor, rupture of cardiac wall, bleeding diathesis, etc.

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Cardiac Tamponade
- pressure on the heart muscle which occurs when the pericardial space fills up w/ fluid faster than the pericardial sac can stretch
- because the heart is filled with fluid blood can't properly be pumped through & filtered → builds up in the veins
- during venous pressure rises progressively & linearly while arterial pressure may be normal or elevated & therefore is diagnostically unreliable
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Pericarditis
inflammation of the pericardium (the fibrous sac surrounding the heart)
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In what situations is Fibrinous Pericarditis seen?
- acute MI, post-infarction, uremia, chest radiation, rheumatic fever, SLE, & trauma
- is a form of acute pericarditis; has effusion fluid rich in protein & the pericardium contains primarily mononuclear inflammatory cells
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What causes Purulent (Suppurative) Pericarditis?
- invasion of the pericardial space by MICROBES
- it causes an acute inflammatory reaction
- organization & scarring is the usual outcome
- it may lead to constrictive pericarditis
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Congenital Heart Defect
- a defect in the structure of the heart & great vessels present at birth as a consequence of faulty embryonic development
- can be caused by misplaced structures (eg. transposition of the great vessels) or as an arrest in the progression of a normal structure from an early stage to one that is more mature (eg. atrial septal defect)
- most abnormalities arise during gestational weeks 3-8 when major cardiovascular structures develop
- is seen in ~1% of live births
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What are the most common type of congenital cardiac malformations?
- Left-to-Right Shunt
- characterized by a "back-leak" of blood from the systemic to the pulmonary circulation
- the pulmonary circulation carries both the blood that legitimately entered the R atrium & ventricle but also the blood entering through an ASD (atrial septal defect), VSD (ventricular septal defect), or PDA (patent ductus arteriosus)
 - blood volume & pressure in the pulmonary circulation become abnormally high
- a significant shunt causes progressive damage to the pulmonary vasculature & gradual development of irreversible pulmonary hypertension
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Eisenmenger Syndrome
when the pressure in the pulmonary circuit ultimately exceeds the systemic pressure causing a reversal of blood flow from the R side of the circulation to the L
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Right-to-Left Shunt
- a cardiac shunt that allows blood to flow from the right to the left heart
- CYANOSIS (low O2) presents at or near the time of birth b/c poorly oxygenated blood from the right side of the heart is introduced directly into the arterial circulation
- most common: tetralogy of Fallot & transposition of the great vessels
- can see clubbing of the finger tips, polycythemia (increase in the blood circulation of RBC), or paradoxical embolism
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Tetralogy of Fallot
- a cyanotic Right-to-Left Shunt that's the most common cause of cyanotic congenital heart defects
- 1. Ventral septal defect
- 2. Obstruction to the right ventricular outflow tract (subpulmonic stenosis)
- 3. Dextroposition of the aorta so that it overrides the ventricular septal defect
- 4. Right ventricular hypertrophy
- b/c of the pulmonary stenosis, blood is shunted through the ventricular septal defect into the aorta, resulting in arterial desaturation & cyanosis
- if not repaired dyspnea on exertion will present & physical development will be slowed
- there's also a risk for bacterial endocarditis & brain abscesses
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How can Tetralogy of Fallot be treated?
total correct with surgery is possible
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Transposition of the Great Arteries (TGA)
- a type of cyanotic congenital heart disease in which the aorta arises from the right ventricle & the pulmonary artery from the left ventricle!
 - the 2 circuits are separate & not compatible w/ life
- almost all infants w/ TGA have an atrial septal defect &/or patent ductus arteriosis as compensatory mechanisms
- the malformation can be corrected w/ surgery
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Aortic Coarctation
- a local constriction that almost always occurs immediately below the origin of the left subclavian artery at the site of the ductus arteriosus
- is 2-5x more frequent in males than females & is associated w/ bicuspid aortic valves in 2/3 of the cases
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How is blood pressure affected by Aortic Coarctation?
- there is hypertension in the upper parts of the body but hypotension below the coarctation (aka in the lower extremities)
- upper body hypertension results in left ventricular hypertrophy, dizziness, headaches, & nosebleeds
- lower body hypotension leads to weakness, pallor, & coldness of lower extremities
- radiographs of the chest show notching (erosion) of the inner surfaces of the ribs produced by increased pressure in markedly dilated intercostal arteries

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