Cardiomyopathies: a revolution in molecular medicine and cardiac imaging

The cardiomyopathies are defined as: ‘a myocardial disorder in which the heart is structurally and functionally abnormal, in the absence of coronary artery disease, hypertension and congenital heart disease sufficient to cause the myocardial abnormality.’1 With the advent of molecular cardiology and cardiovascular imaging (including MRI and echocardiography) in the last decade, much insight has been gained into the different clinical presentations, its familial and genetic causes and pathophysiology in explaining left ventricular function and prognosis. This has been especially true for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, but also for dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) and RV cardiomyopathy.