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Cardiomyopathy
How is hypertrophic cardiomyopathy treated?
The treatment of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy aims to improve symptoms, reduce complications, and prevent sudden death. The methods include improving ventricular compliance by reducing outflow tract obstruction, preventing thromboembolic events, and identifying high-risk patients for sudden death. Treatment needs to be individualized, and the main treatments include the following aspects: 1. Medication treatment. Drug treatment is fundamental, and drugs targeting outflow tract obstruction mainly include receptor blockers and non-dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers. For patients with congestive heart failure, targeted treatment is required. Anticoagulation treatment is necessary for patients with atrial fibrillation, and it is worth noting that for patients with chest discomfort, care should be taken to exclude outflow tract obstruction when using nitrate drugs to avoid exacerbation after use. Non-drug treatments include: 1. Surgical treatment: For patients with ineffective drug treatment and heart function class three to four, if there is severe outflow tract obstruction, septal myectomy should be considered. Currently, surgery is listed as the preferred treatment for suitable patients in consensus guidelines in both America and Europe. 2. Alcohol septal ablation; 3. Pacing therapy.
Which department should I register for cardiomyopathy?
Cardiomyopathy is a common disease in our daily lives, characterized primarily by changes in the myocardium. After being diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, many patients often ask which department they should register with at the hospital. Generally speaking, cardiomyopathy falls under cardiovascular diseases, so registration should be with the department of cardiology. Cardiologists often prescribe a cardiac echocardiogram to diagnose myocardial diseases. Conditions such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy or dilated cardiomyopathy require a cardiac echocardiogram for detection, which is the most commonly used examination for cardiomyopathy.
What should be noted for dilated cardiomyopathy?
Patients with dilated cardiomyopathy should actively look for the cause of the disease and provide corresponding treatments, such as controlling infections, strictly limiting or abstaining from alcohol, treating relevant endocrine or autoimmune diseases, correcting electrolyte disorders, and improving nutritional imbalances, etc. In the early stages of dilated cardiomyopathy, although there is already enlargement of the heart and impairment of contractile function, there are no clinical manifestations of heart failure. At this stage, early pharmacological intervention should be actively implemented to slow down ventricular remodeling and further damage to the myocardium, delaying the progression of the disease. As the condition progresses, the patient's ventricular contractile function further decreases and clinical manifestations of heart failure appear. At this point, treatment should follow the guidelines for chronic heart failure. However, the specifics of the treatment and the choice of medication should be determined by a specialist based on the patient’s condition.