Cardiomyopathy

[josie490]

A while ago I had an extremely bad bout of food poisoning (passing out, vomiting for hours and had to go to the ER).  A couple of weeks after that, I began to have frequent episodes (3-4 times a week) of dizzyness, extreme fatigue, palipations and sometimes passing out.  After examination and testing, I was found to have PVC's in bigemeny, nonsustained VT,  and a LVEF of 40%.  I've been told that bad viral infections can cause cardiomyopathy, but have not heard anything about food poisioning.  i have since had an ablation procedure which to date seems to be succesful.  In your opinion, can food poisoning cause cardiomyopathy or do you feel this is more likely just a coincedence?  By the way, i am an otherwise healthy female in my early 20's.

[Healthyself2]

Entertain the thought that your "food poisoning" may have been a severe bout of Syncope, which would have given you all of the same symptoms - passing out, extreme nauseau, and vomiting.  Google syncope and near syncope.

It's unlikely that you would have passed out from food poisoning.  Syncope and other rythym problems are closely linked in their root causes.

[Cleveland Clinic]

The food poisoning may have been part of the viral infection which not only attacked your heart but also may have affected your stomach and intestine.  These findings would certainly fit with a systemic viral infection.  The PVC's may be an epiphenomena of the cardiomyopathy, but in rare cases frequent PVC's could also lead to the development of cardiomyopathy.  Typically there has to be at least >25000 per day on a Holter monitor.  Medications help and ablation is typically curative with complete restoration of cardiac function in the majority of cases.  

[Momto3]

I don't know if food poisoning can cause cardiomyopathy, and I'd have to agree with Dawn.  That's what happened to me.  I had had pvcs for many years, lots of bigeminy, couplets, triplets, nsvt, but no sustained VT.  I developed cardiomyopathy from what seemed out of nowhere.  My ejection fraction was also at 40% which shocked me!  I tried anti-arrythmics and did not like the side effects and b/c I would have had to take them for the rest of my life, I went for ablation(s).  It took two procedures, but my ejection fraction normalized and the pvcs are far and few.  This  type of CM is referred to as "PVC-induced cardiomyopathy".
Hope you are feeling much better!

connie

[ddavey]

i am not an expert, just a mom of a 23 yr old daughter with cardiomyopathy...    i think a more plausible reason for cardiomyopathy may be the pvc's and v tach    if that is the cause of the low ef, then the successful ablation may also help the cardiomyopathy and increase the ef.  it seems that the food poisioning may be a coincedence, but as i said, i am not a doctor...  just a mom...    good luck     dawn