VARIABLE PROGNOSIS IN CONGESTIVE CARDIOMYOPATHY ROLE OF LEFT-VENTRICULAR FUNCTION, ALCOHOLISM, AND PULMONARY THROMBOSIS

  • 1 January 1980
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 21  (4) , 451-463
Abstract
The prognosis of 36 patients with congestive cardiomyopathy was studied in relation to various clinical factors. The half-life of the survival curve after overt heart failure was about 7 yr. Although left ventricular function was a major determinant of clinical course in congestive cardiomyopathy in general, its relation to the prognosis was variable according to the type of cardiac involvement. In peripartal cardiomyopathy and in subacute cardiomyopathy with pulmonary thrombosis, factor(s) other than left ventricular function, possibly including pulmonary thrombosis, may be operative as a more important determinant of extremely poor prognosis in these subtypes. Alcoholic cardiomyopathy was unique in its favorable prognosis in association with reversible cardiomegaly following abstention from alcohol.

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