Pathology Flashcards
What does cardiomyopathy refer to?
Diseases of the cardiac muscle left when ischaemia, hypertension, valvular disease and inflammation have been excluded.
Three main forms of cardiomyopathy are?
Dilated
Hypertrophic
Restrictive
Describe the appearance of the heart in dilated cardiomyopathy
Heart is much bigger but it weighs the same. Histologically no important features.
Causes of dilated cardiomyopathy?
Often no cause is identified but is suspected to be end stage damage from alcohol, myocarditis or pregnancy. In a small number of cases it may also be familial.
Describe the appearance of the heart in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy? What does this result in?
Muscle hypertrophy without dilatation occurs. There is disproportionate thickening of the inter ventricular septum. Histologically the enlarged muscle fibres are arranged irregularly.
There is outflow tract obstruction due to bulging inter ventricular septum. This means blood cannot escape and ultimately results in heart failure.
Describe restrictive cardiomyopathy
The myocardium does not relax properly in diastole restricting ventricular filling and cardiac output is reduced.
Causes of restrictive cardiomyopathy?
Usually deposition of something in the myocardium
amyloidosis
sarcoidosis
loefflers endocarditis and endomyocardial fibrosis (condition where you get abnormal infiltration of eosinophils)
What is Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Dysplasia?
Muscle of the right ventricle is replaced by fat or fibrous tissue resulting in poor contraction and arrhythmias.
Most common cause of myocarditis is?
viral infection
When does rheumatic fever cause myocarditis?
After strep throat
Causes of pericarditis?
- Infection
- Immune mediated (rheumatic fever)
- Idiopathic
- Uraemic (renal failure)
- Post M.I. (Dressler’s syndrome)
- Connective tissue disease. eg. SLE
Complications of pericarditis?
- Pericardial effusion
- Tamponade
- Constrictive pericarditis
- Cardiac failure
- Death
Carcinoid tumours produce what sided valve disease?
Right sided
Most common type of heart tumour is…
Atrial myxoma usually in left atrium
