cardiomyopathy

cardiomyopathy, any cardiac disease process that results in heart failure due to a decrease in the pumping power of the heart or due to an impairment in the filling of the cardiac chambers. Persons with cardiomyopathy frequently retain excess fluid, resulting in congestion of the lungs, and have symptoms of weakness, fatigue, and shortness of breath. Sometimes they develop a potentially fatal arrhythmia, or abnormal heart rhythm. Most cardiomyopathies are idiopathic, or of unknown cause....