One heart, two cardiomyopathies

Cardiomyopathies and heart failure

Primary heart failure in cardiomyopathy occurs in (1) hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a genetic disease of the sarcomere; and (2) in dilated cardiomyopathy. The latter is often regarded as idiopathic in origin, but requires exclusion of all possible etiologies which are becoming easier to identify with modern investigative techniques. Tachycardia-induced cardiomyopathy is now increasingly recogniz...

Heart antibodies in cardiomyopathies.

The reported frequency of circulating heart reactive antibodies in cardiomyopathies has varied and their significance is unknown. In this study such antibodies were sought in patients with primary congestive and hypertrophic cardiomyopathies and other heart diseases. Standard "single sandwich" and the more sensitive "double sandwich" indirect immunofluorescence techniques failed to disclose a s...

Genetic cardiomyopathies causing heart failure.

Despite the striking advances in medical and surgical therapy, the morbidity, mortality, and economic burden of heart failure (HF) remain unacceptably high. There is increasing evidence that the risk and course of HF depend on genetic predisposition; however, the genetic contribution to HF is heterogeneous and complex. At one end of the spectrum are the familial monogenic HF syndromes in which ...

The ubiquitin proteasome system in human cardiomyopathies and heart failure.

Maintenance of protein quality control is a critical function of the ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS). Evidence is rapidly mounting to link proteasome dysfunction with a multitude of cardiac diseases, including ischemia, reperfusion, atherosclerosis, hypertrophy, heart failure, and cardiomyopathies. Recent studies have demonstrated a remarkable level of complexity in the regulation of the UPS ...

Cardiomyopathies: When the Goliaths of Heart Muscle Hurt