Cured of Cardiomyopathy or Missed Diagnosis?

[jrrit]

In July of 2011, after a stress test, my cardiologist did a heart cath.  No blockage, but he said my left ventricle was not pumping as it should and gave me a vague diagnosis of cardiomyopathy--possibly viral.  I have been on carvedilol since.  I wore a monitor for 4 weeks and it showed PVC's, PAC's, and supraventricular something or other.  In September, I had an echocardiogram and my cardiologist said my heart looked normal.  Throughout my EF was about 60.  Yesterday, Jan.5, 2012, after listening to my heart, my cardiologist says my heart is normal and I no longer have cardiomyopathy.  All of this is confusing to me.  Can I be cured of cardiomyopathy or was the diagnosis not correct from the start?  Doctor says I was "zapped" by something and now it's over.

[CCFHeartMD10]

Yes, cardiomyopathy may improve and even disappear altogether in some patients. This is most likely within the first few months after onset. It is less likely with a long-standing cardiomyopathy, unless a reversible cause can be found and corrected. There are many causes of cardiomyopathy, which describes a condition in which the heart does not pump as well as it should. One of these is a viral infection, however it is quite difficult and impossible in many cases to absolutely prove that this is the cause, therefore often a presumptive diagnosis of viral cardiomyopathy is made.
A heart cath is an objective test and it is unlikely that normal heart function could be misread as poor. Therefore it is more likely that you had a transient cardiomyopathy which has resolved.
I'm glad that your heart function has recovered. Often at this stage your physician may recommend reducing and eventually stopping some or all of your heart medicines under close supervision.

[jrrit]

Thank you for your response.  I am still puzzled as to how my cardiologist determined that the cardiomyopathy was gone.  Can that be determined by just listening to the heart?  Or do you think it was a combination of that, looking at the results of the last echocardiogram, and my reporting to him that I was experiencing more energy and fewer symptoms?  Thanks again for giving your time.