Congestive cardiomyopathy of childhood.

Congestive cardiomyopathy of childhood is a poorly understood, highly lethal disorder characterized by intrinsic inefficiency of the myocardium. The disease predominantly affects infants and is often familial. Cardiomyopathy may be caused by a wide variety of underlying disorders of substrate utilization, vascular supply, immune status, etc. Specific therapy, when available, may be highly effective. Symptomatic therapy is not. Congestive cardiomyopathy is fatal in about one third of all cases, with half of the survivors having chronic disability. Improved prognosis in childhood congestive cardiomyopathy awaits a more complete understanding of its cause. Cardiac transplantation offers the greatest hope for severely affected patients with idiopathic disease.