Prevalence

Dilated Cardiomyopathy

The prevalence in North America and Europe is about 38 per 100,000 so it is not a common condition. Men are affected twice as much as women.

Most often the cause is not known but it may follow a viral or other infection of the heart, it may be a consequence of alcohol/drug over-use or of an autoimmune disease, where the body's defences attack certain organs of the body. Occasionally it is familial.

Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

One in 500 to one in 1,000 of the general population have this condition:

• 50% inherit the condition,
• 50% occur randomly.

It is the most common genetic heart disease and people with the disease may wish to have genetic counselling. There is a small risk of sudden death which varies from patient to patient.

Restrictive Cardiomyopathy

Most causes are unknown.

Among the known causes are:

• “Infiltration “of the heart with substances such as iron, sarcoid granulomata or amyloid, which occur in certain diseases,
• Scarring of the heart muscle from radiation (i.e. to treat cancer),
• Living in the tropics where scarring of the heart muscle occurs for no known reason,
• Rare metabolic disorders.

Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy (ARVC)

It usually affects young people and may run in families but there is a variation in the severity of the disease from person to person.