Types of Heart Disease and Their Symptoms

Last Updated on October 29, 2023

Heart disease is also called cardiopathy. Both of these are kind of umbrella term for a variety of different diseases affecting the heart. Heart diseases can be of following types:

Coronary Heart Disease

It implies the failure of the circulation to cardiac muscle and surrounding tissue. Coronary heart disease is most commonly equated with Coronary artery disease although coronary heart disease can be due to other causes.

Coronary artery disease is a disease of the artery caused by the accumulation of atheromatous plaques within the walls of the arteries that supply the myocardium.

Chest pain and myocardial infarction (heart attack) are symptoms of and conditions caused by coronary heart disease.

Cardiomyopathy

Cardiomyopathy means “heart muscle disease”.  It is the deterioration of the function of the myocardium for any reason. People with cardiomyopathy are often at risk of arrhythmia and/or sudden cardiac death. Cardiomyopathy can be of following types:

Extrinsic cardiomyopathies

Cardiomyopathies where the primary pathology is outside the myocardium itself.

• Alcoholic cardiomyopathy
• Coronary artery disease
• Congenital heart disease
• Nutritional diseases affecting the heart
• Ischemic cardiomyopathy
• Hypertensive cardiomyopathy
• Valvular cardiomyopathy
• Inflammatory cardiomyopathy
• Cardiomyopathy secondary to a systemic metabolic disease
• Myocardiodystrophy

Intrinsic cardiomyopathies

Weakness in the muscle of the heart that is not due to an identifiable external cause.

• Dilated cardiomyopathy – It is most common. The heart (especially the left ventricle) is enlarged and the pumping function is diminished.
• Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy- It is a genetic disorder caused by various mutations in genes encoding sarcomeric proteins. The heart muscle is thickened, which can obstruct blood flow and prevent the heart from functioning properly.
• Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy -It arises from an electrical disturbance of the heart in which heart muscle is replaced by fibrous scar tissue. The right ventricle is generally most affected.
• Restrictive cardiomyopathy – It is the least common cardiomyopathy. The walls of the ventricles are stiff, but may not be thickened, and resist the normal filling of the heart with blood.

Noncompaction Cardiomyopathy

The left ventricle wall has failed to properly grow from birth and has a spongy appearance when viewed during an echocardiogram.

Cardiovascular Disease

Cardiovascular disease is any of a number of specific diseases that affect the heart itself and/or the blood vessel system, especially the veins and arteries leading to and from the heart.

Types of cardiovascular diseases include

• Atherosclerosis
• Ischaemic heart disease
• Cor pulmonale, a failure of the right side of the heart.

Hypertensive Heart Disease

Hypertensive heart disease is heart disease caused by high blood pressure. A high blood pressure may cause

• Left ventricular hypertrophy
• Coronary heart disease
• Congestive heart failure
• Hypertensive cardiomyopathy
• Cardiac arrhythmias

Inflammatory Heart Disease

Inflammatory heart disease involves inflammation of the heart muscle and/or the tissue surrounding it.

• Endocarditis – inflammation of the inner layer of the heart, the endocardium.
• Inflammatory cardiomegaly
• Myocarditis – inflammation of the myocardium, the muscular part of the heart.
• The heart disease that is a consequence of an inflammation is called inflammatory heart disease. There could be many causes of inflammation.Inflammatory heart disease may occur due to an infection that develops from a bacteria or virus. It could also develop due to inflammation from some internal milieu.

  Inflammation of heart is caused by known infectious agents, viruses, bacteria, fungi or parasites, and by toxic materials from the environment, water, food, air, toxic gases, smoke, and pollution, or by an unknown origin.

  The heart has the following three layers:

  Pericardium – Outer sac of the heart

  Myocardium – Inner muscle core of the heart

  Endocardium – Innermost lining of the heart

  Depending upon the layer of heart involved by inflammation, it could be pericarditis, myocarditis or endocarditis.

  Myocarditis

  Myocarditis describes any inflammation that occurs within the heart muscle. It is induced by viral infections, diseases like sarcoidosis, and immune disorders.

  It is not unusual for the disease to be completely asymptomatic. Pain in the chest is the most likely sign of myocarditis. The disease may progress into degeneration of the heart muscle and cause heart failure.

  If treated early, a fair portion of individuals achieves total recovery. Others may progress to chronic heart failure. Rarely a fulminant heart failure may develop.

  Pericarditis

  

  Pericarditis is inflammation of the pericardium, the fluid sac that envelopes the heart.

  The various causes of pericarditis are:

  • Infection
  • Malignancy
  • Metabolic disorders like hypothyroidism and uremia
  • Connective tissue disease
  • Drug reaction

  Pericarditis presents as chest pain or angina pectoris that is generally expressed as a cutting, intense pain that migrates from the chest area to the shoulder blades, back, and neck that become significantly worse on inhalation and becomes better by leaning forward.

  Analgesics and the treatment of the offending factor is the accepted line of treatment.

  Endocarditis

  Endocarditis is inflammation of the endocardium or inner lining of the heart. It usually affects individuals who have an artificial heart valve in place or have suffered degeneration of a heart valve.

  Groups most at risk include:

  * Individuals who currently have an artificial valve(s).
  * Congenital birth defect
  * Any previous injury to the heart
  * Intravenous drug users

  The main treatments are antibiotics and surgery where damage is significantly compromising.

Valvular Heart Disease

Valvular heart disease is a disease process that affects one or more valves of the heart.