Myocarditis and Cardiomyopathy

  Dear Forum Doctors,
  Thank you very much for the information you provided on myocarditis.  I have a couple concerns though.  As I mention in my first question I was diagnosed with viral myocarditis 3years ago.  At that time my EF was 48%.  Now I'm at 60%.  Since my EF has improved and feeling better (energy level not the same though), what are my chances of developing cardiomyopathy?  What does the EF have to drop down to?  Is there anything that I can do (exercise, diet, etc.) to prevent cardiomyopathy? I really want to do what I can to help my heart heal from this horrible experince.  My husband and I would like to have a baby but we are concerned the pregnancy may be hard on my heart.  I've addressed these issues with my physician and he thinks I am worrying to much because he feels I've made a complete recovery (never mentioning the possibility of developing cardiomyopathy).  Thank you for your time in addressing these and so many other important issues that family physicians and cardiologist don't have the time to do.

[CCF CARDIO MD APS]

Dear Karen,
I agree with your physician, you are worrying too much and you should be spending that energy on a daily
exercise program and planning a family.  I will tell you that a very small percentage of women get what is
called postpartum cardiomyopathy : this is frequent recovery from this and thus far the only women at risk for
it are those who had it in one pregnancy and are pregnant again-mind you this is not a one to one connection,
a women who recovers from postpartum cardiomyopathy will not "for sure" get it again in the subsequent pregnancies.
Unfortunately we can not predict who will get this nor who will recover, just as it was likely but not predictable that you
would recover from your cardiomyopathy.
You can ask that your cardiologist follow you and your EF during the pregnancy, any significant diminution of your current EF (to 50% or less)is some
cause for concern, although honestly this idea might be "overkill", i.e.not indicated except to calm your fears which honestly are unfounded from a medical standpoint.
Good Luck.  Information provided in the heart forum is intended for general medical informational purposes
only, actual diagnosis and treatment can only be made by your physician(s).