What is dilated (congestive) cardiomyopathy?
This is the most common form. In it, the heart cavity is enlarged and stretched (cardiac dilation). The heart is weak and doesn’t pump normally, and most patients develop congestive heart failure. Abnormal heart rhythms called arrhythmias and disturbances in the heart’s electrical conduction also may occur. Blood flows more slowly through an enlarged heart, so blood clots easily form. A blood clot that forms in an artery or the heart is called a thrombus. A clot that breaks free, circulates in the bloodstream and blocks a small blood vessel is called an embolus. Clots that stick to the inner lining of the heart are called mural thrombi. If the clot breaks off the right ventricle (pumping chamber), it can be carried into the pulmonary circulation in the lung, forming pulmonary emboli. Blood clots that form in the heart’s left side may be dislodged and carried into the body’s circulation to form cerebral emboli in the brain, renal emboli in the kidney, peripheral emboli or even coronary
