cardiomyopathy

if your cardiomypathy is at 15% and you have had 2 pacemakers is transplant the next option? how serious is cardiomypathy?

[quintby]

If you EF is at 15% I hope you're in an ICU.  Transplant is ultimate option, but you need a cardio to support you to get you on a list.  Other assistive devices can help.  Have you had any coronary ortery bypasses?  Possibly, you're in cardiogenic shock but your myocardium is stunned or hibernating and seemingly dead tissue could be revived,  I'm just spouting ideas based on my experience.  I had cardiomyopathy at about 20 EF and coronary bypass brought my heart back to life. Good luck.

[grendslori]

A 15% EF is not the only determining factor when judging heart failure according to my daughter's transplant team. Kidney and lung function are also determining factors along with that EF%. my daughter is walking around and working part time with an EF% of 15. To have had 2 pacemakers would not even enter into the picture; that wouldn't matter. Transplantation is the very LAST thing considered for any heart patient for several reasons. The first thing that you must realize is that is is NOT a cure for your heart disease. People tend to think it is, it isn't. You are only exchanging one serious problem for another with the hopes of being able to have more time with your own loved ones. In fact, our transplant team told us that if we had given the reason for wanting the tansplant was so she could live longer, they would never have listed our daughter. (I'm not saying all transplant teams take that approach) Taking the drugs is a life long endeavor and it can get old real fast. Miss 2 doses and you are at the hospital getting IVs. Heart muscle biopsies are done all the time as well as all the normal heart tests: EKGs, Echoes, Caths etc. Some patients can live pretty good lives, others never leave the operating room alive. My daughter has had 4-5 episodes of Congestive heart failure with her transplanted heart. Nothing is a given. You can talk to your cardiologist about being evaluated by a heart transplant team; they usually take over your care at the point they consider listing you for the transplant. And they usually list you when they feel you have about 18 months of life left. If you are too sick, they usually won't list you because hearts are hard to come by, if you are not sick enough, the same goes. Cardiomyopathy is a serious form of heart disease, the types of cardiomyopathy vary and the prognosis also varies. There are 4 main types of cardiomyopathy, Congestive where the walls of the heart are too thin and can't pump well, (that's the most common form) Hypertrophic, where the walls are too thick and because of that the walls can't relax and allow blood to fill the chambers, Restrictive, which is very similar to Hypertrophic and Alcoholic Cardiomyopathy which can be caused by too much alcohol consumption. There is also a form of cardiomyopathy that can affect pregnant women. How fast the disease progresses depends on the type and cause of the cardiomyopathy. Some cardiomyopathies are caused by viruses such as the congestive forms; some are more genetic in nature such as the hypertrophic cardiomyopathies although sometimes this form can be sporadic.

[kenkeith]

Well said grendslori. "Congestive where the walls of the heart are too thin and can't pump well". I believe you meant to say dilated cardiomyopathy.  

I had a dilated left ventricle that impaired my heart's pumping ability...6 years ago and  an EF below 29%.  Currently my heart is normal size and EF 59%. The underlying cause was ischemia (lack of sufficient blood flow) to heart cells and that impaired contractility with hypokinesis (heart wall movement).  Hypokinesis can corrected with good blood flow to the area in question....heart cells can often be revitalized with good blood/oxygen perfusion as quintby states.

Thanks for sharing and if you have any additional questions you are welcome to post.  Take care.

[grendslori]

DUH!!! LOLs! you are so right about the dilated instead of congestive! Senior moment! :)