Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy
Digg this article
There are many types of heart disease that can affect your dog, and one of the more serious of these is a condition known as cardiomyopathy. There are several types of this fatal disease, and they are a major cause of irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia), congestive heart failure and sudden death. The two most common include a condition known as arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM) and a second known as idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy, or DCM. In many cases, the dog will develop ACM first, and then the condition will develop into DCM.The term cardiomyopathy literally translates to "sick heart muscle." It occurs when the walls of the heart muscle become thin, weak and unable to contract properly. The left side of the heart is normally affected the most, but both sides can become enlarged. [...]