Dilated cardiomyopathy
Dilated cardiomyopathy is a heart muscle disease in which one or both ventricles enlarge and weaken, reducing the heart’s ability to pump blood.
Left ventricular remodeling: Changes in the size, shape, and structure of the left ventricle following injury or sustained stress. Progressive remodeling enlarges the ventricle and can further impair its pumping function.
Familial dilated cardiomyopathy: Dilated cardiomyopathy that occurs in multiple members of a family, often because of inherited genetic variants. Family history can reveal an inherited cause even when no trigger is apparent.
Echocardiography: Ultrasound imaging of the heart used to assess its structure, motion, and blood flow. It shows chamber enlargement and estimates ventricular pumping function.
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: A heart muscle disease characterized by abnormal thickening of the ventricular walls. It typically thickens rather than dilates the ventricle and has different functional effects.
Sudden cardiac death: Unexpected death from an abrupt loss of effective heart function, often caused by a fatal arrhythmia. Ventricular arrhythmias make sudden death a serious risk in some cases.
Systolic dysfunction: Impaired contraction of the heart that reduces the amount of blood ejected with each beat. Weak contraction is the defining functional impairment in dilated cardiomyopathy.
TTN: The gene encoding titin, a giant sarcomeric protein that contributes to muscle elasticity and structural integrity. Variants in TTN are among the most common genetic causes of dilated cardiomyopathy.
Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging: Magnetic resonance imaging that characterizes heart structure, function, and tissue properties. Tissue patterns can help distinguish causes and identify myocardial scarring.
Restrictive cardiomyopathy: A heart muscle disease in which stiff ventricles resist filling despite relatively preserved chamber size. Its dominant problem is impaired filling, unlike the weakened contraction and enlargement here.
Thromboembolism: Obstruction of a blood vessel by a clot that formed elsewhere and traveled through the circulation. Poor ventricular contraction can promote clot formation and embolic complications.