Cardiomyopathies: Temporal Review and Genetic Determination

Cardiomyopathies are a heterogeneous group of diseases of the myocardium associated with dysfunction, with or without a structural substrate. They are frequently genetically determined. The dysfunction may be mechanical, both of the systole and diastole, or electrical, including arrhythmias or conduction disorders. Originally, only dilated, hypertrophic, restrictive-obliterative and arrhythmogenic dysfunctions were considered cardiomyopathies. Nowadays, since dysfunction can also be electric, disorders affected by electrical dysfunction without a structural substrate can be regarded as cardiomyopathies as well. This is the case of channellopathies and ryanodine receptors. This paper is a review of the history of cardiomyopathies, including the issues of their classification and nomination, genetic background and gene therapy.