Re: cardiomyopathy

Posted By Jillian on October 15, 1998 at 11:55:16:

In Reply to: cardiomyopathy posted by sandra on October 14, 1998 at 15:05:12:






In January, my 36 yr. old husband was diagnosed with idopathic cardiomyopathy.  His EF was then and continues to be 35-40% and dilation factor 5.7.  He's on both a beta blocker and ace inhibitor.  While his cardiologist believes this to be a "burned out cardiomyopathy" and his condition stable, he's prescribed the meds to preclude further muscle deterioration likely to occur with "normal" life activity given his reduced capacity.  Nonetheless, my husband gets fatigued (Q #1 - is this the condition itself or side effect of the drug(s)) and continues to experience discomfort from PVC's.  Additional questions as follows:
Q#2 - Is there such a thing as "burned out cardiomyopathy"?  Is it possible to have a cardiomyopathy that does not fall into the three general categories or will his condition evenutally worsen and lead to dilated?
Q#3 - What else, if anything can be done to alleviate the PVC's?
Q#4 - Should I discuss the merits of carvedilol with his cardiologist?
Thanks in advance for your help and input.
I am also interested in an answer. The cardiologist I consulted for a second opinion worote in his report that he thought I had a "burned out hypertensive heart". Would this be the same thing? My blood pressure was always described as "borderline high", but I was never precribed anything for it. He though he thought the prognosis was slightly better than for idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy. Would you agree or not?