Primary Cardiomyopathy

Abstract This prospective clinical and physiological study included ten consecutive patients with primary cardiomyopathy (obstructive and alcoholic cases excluded). Five of them were of the hypertrophic and five of the congestive type. The hypertrophic group was characterized by a systolic murmur of late onset and T wave inversion maximal in the apical lead, while dyspnea, atrial fibrillation and cardiac enlargement were more common in the congestive group. In the exercise test the hypertrophic group as a whole performed the predicted work and the congestive group only half of it. During a follow‐up period of 3–6 years two patients of each group died (sudden death). The two deceased patients of the congestive group were characterized by being the only two with persistent atrial fibrillation, having the lowest physical working capacity and being the only two in this group with abnormally high left ventricular end‐diastolic pressure during exercise. In the hypertrophic group the two deceased patients were the only ones with dyspnea on effort and large heart volumes in relation to the total amount of hemoglobin. These two patients also had the lowest working capacity and the lowest end‐diastolic pressure of the left ventricle during exercise in this group.