Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM)

At Aurora, we’ll help you and your family understand dilated cardiomyopathy and guide you on what to do next. Our doctors are among the most experienced heart specialists in Wisconsin and we’ll do everything possible to care for your heart.

What is dilated cardiomyopathy? 

Dilated cardiomyopathy, or DCM, is a disease of the heart muscle. It happens when your left ventricle, your heart’s main pumping chamber, widens (dilates) and doesn’t pump blood as well as it should. Over time, your heart muscle weakens, which can lead to heart failure or other conditions.

Although you can develop dilated cardiomyopathy at any age, it’s most common in middle age. It also affects men more often than women.

The most common type of dilated cardiomyopathy is ischemic cardiomyopathy, which develops from the lack of blood supply to the heart caused by a heart attack or coronary artery disease.

Find out more about cardiomyopathy and the other types of this disease.

Dilated cardiomyopathy symptoms

There may be certain signs that you have dilated cardiomyopathy. You might experience:

• Palpitations, fluttering in your chest or irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia)
• Blood clots
• Dizziness and lightheadedness
• Fainting (syncope)
• Fatigue
• Heart valve problems
• Shortness of breath
• Swelling in your ankles, feet and legs
• Weight gain, cough or congestion due to fluid retention

Dilated cardiomyopathy causes & risk factors

Usually doctors can’t pinpoint a cause for dilated cardiomyopathy. Sometimes it may be genetic, meaning it runs in the family. Certain factors may also increase your risk for developing dilated cardiomyopathy, like:

• Having other conditions, like diabetes or heart valve disease
• Having a past heart infection
• Taking certain cancer medications
• Abusing alcohol or other drugs

Dilated cardiomyopathy diagnosis

To diagnose dilated cardiomyopathy, your doctor will perform a thorough physical exam and ask about your family history and any symptoms you may have. They may also order diagnostic tests, such as:

• Lab testing, including blood tests
• Radiographic imaging, including a chest X-ray or MRI
• Echocardiogram, a heart ultrasound 
• Electrocardiogram (EKG) to check your heart’s electrical activity
• Stress test to examine your heart while you exercise
• Cardiac computed tomography to see 3-D images of your moving heart
• Myocardial biopsy, where we take small samples of heart tissue and send them to a lab for analysis
• Genetic testing to see if it is an inherited heart disease

Find out more about our heart and vascular testing and diagnosis. 

Dilated cardiomyopathy treatment 

As regional leaders in heart care, you can trust we have the skills and latest technologies to treat your condition. If you’re diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy, your doctor will work with you on a treatment plan tailored to your needs. Your personal care plan may include:

• Lifestyle changes to improve your health, such as diet and exercise
• Medications such as blood thinners, diuretics, digitalis, ACE inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB), aldosterone antagonist or beta blockers
• Implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) or pacemaker implant to help your heart maintain a regular heart rhythm
• Ventricular Assist Devices (VADs), an implanted device that supports your heart’s pumping action to improve blood flow in your heart
• Heart valve repair and replacement, using minimally invasive procedures so you’ll have less discomfort and spend less time in the hospital
• Heart transplant if your condition is severe. At Aurora, we provide results that are better than national averages. That means our heart transplant patients are living longer with their new heart than people who receive a heart transplant elsewhere.

Are you at risk for heart disease?

Knowing your risk factors of heart disease – the leading cause of death in the U.S. – can help you lower your chances of developing it. Our heart health quiz estimates your risk, determines which of your risk factors are controllable and gives you an idea what to do next based on your results.

Take the heart health quiz