ABSTRACT
Cardiomyopathies can be classified as primary (mainly or only affecting the heart) or secondary (where the cardiomyopathy is part of a wider multisystem disorder). This chapter describes the key features of the cardiomyopathies most likely to be encountered in everyday practice. The clinical background and echo features are discussed for dilated cardiomyopathy, stress-induced cardiomyopathy (also known as apical ballooning cardiomyopathy or takotsubo cardiomyopathy), hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, Fabry disease, left ventricular non-compaction cardiomyopathy, restrictive cardiomyopathy and arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy.
