Insights into restrictive cardiomyopathy from clinical and animal studies

Cardiomyopathies are diseases that primarily affect the myocardium, leading to serious cardiac dysfunction and heart failure. Out of the three major categories of cardiomyopathies (hypertrophic, dilated and restrictive), restrictive cardiomyopathy (RCM) is less common and also the least studied. However, the prognosis for RCM is poor as some patients dying in their childhood. The molecular mechanisms behind the disease development and progression are not very clear and the treatment of RCM is very difficult and often ineffective. In this article, we reviewed the recent progress in RCM research from the clinical studies and the translational studies done on diseased transgenic animal models. This will help for a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying the etiology and development of RCM and for the design of better treatments for the disease.