Cardiomyopathy and heart transplantation in children.

Cardiac transplantation has become a standard therapeutic option for certain disorders in which poor cardiac output without other surgical options exists in the face of maximized medical therapy. The most common disorder requiring transplantation is dilated cardiomyopathy, although other forms of cardiomyopathy (ie, restrictive cardiomyopathy, arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia/cardiomyopathy, and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with poor ventricular function) may require transplantation as well. In this review, the current indications and outcomes of heart transplantation in patients with cardiomyopathy are discussed.