The UF Health Congenital Heart Center supports a daily clinic for patients who have cardiomyopathy and heart failure. During the Cardiomyopathy and Heart Failure Clinic, patients who have inherited or acquired forms of myocardial dysfunction are evaluated and treated.
Cardiomyopathy is a weakening of the heart muscle or a change in the heart muscle. It often occurs when the heart cannot pump as well as it should or with other heart function problems.
Common types of cardiomyopathy include:
- Dilated cardiomyopathy is a condition in which the heart becomes weak and enlarged. As a result, it cannot pump blood well enough. Different medical problems can cause this type of cardiomyopathy.
- Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a condition in which the heart muscle becomes thick and makes it difficult for blood to leave the muscle. This type of cardiomyopathy is usually passed down through families.
- Ischemic cardiomyopathy is caused by the narrowing of the arteries that supply the heart with blood.
- Restrictive cardiomyopathy is a group of disorders in which the heart chambers are unable to properly fill with blood because the heart muscle is stiff.
- Peripartum cardiomyopathy occurs during pregnancy or within the first five months afterward.