How long can you live with dilated cardiomyopathy?

The heart is a very important part of our human body. Blood circulation requires the participation of the heart. The heart is the power that provides blood circulation. However, due to the bad eating habits, sleeping habits and other living habits of modern people, their hearts have some bad problems. Dilated cardiomyopathy is a relatively common condition. So how long can the life expectancy of a person with dilated cardiomyopathy be?

Life expectancy of dilated cardiomyopathy The course of dilated cardiomyopathy varies in length. Those with faster progression die within 1 to 2 years, while those with slower progression can survive for up to 20 years. This mainly depends on the degree of heart enlargement and whether it is accompanied by severe arrhythmias and refractory heart failure.

Literature reports that the natural history, course and prognosis of dilated cardiomyopathy are affected by various factors such as patient selection, diagnostic methods and criteria used, disease stage at patient inclusion and follow-up time, resulting in different survival rates or mortality rates. The results of many studies have shown that dilated cardiomyopathy has a poor prognosis and a high mortality rate. According to literature statistics, the 1-year survival rate of dilated cardiomyopathy is 58%-63%, the 5-year survival rate is 33%-40%, and the 10-year survival rate is 20%; while the 1-year mortality rate is 25%-58%, the 2-year mortality rate is 30%-48%, the 5-year mortality rate is 50%-80%, and the 10-year mortality rate is 70%-92%. Due to the many influencing factors of dilated cardiomyopathy and the differences in treatment conditions, especially the fact that the cause and pathogenic factors of the disease have not yet been elucidated and there are no specific diagnostic indicators, it is understandable that there are many different reports on survival rates and mortality rates.

Most patients with dilated cardiomyopathy die from refractory heart failure, a few die suddenly, and some die from pulmonary embolism or other causes. Death from heart failure is most common due to total heart failure, followed by left heart failure and less common due to right heart failure. Sudden death is mostly related to the onset of malignant ventricular arrhythmias. Some research results show that the prognosis of dilated cardiomyopathy is improving. Di Lenarda et al. studied the incidence and mortality of 235 cases of dilated cardiomyopathy from 1978 to 1994, with each 5-year period being a study period, and death or heart transplantation being the study endpoints.

The results showed that the 2-year survival rate was 73.8% in the group diagnosed between 1978 and 1982 (Group I, 26 cases in total); 87.7% in the group diagnosed between 1983 and 1987 (Group II, 65 cases in total); and 93.3% in the group diagnosed between 1988 and 1992 (Group III, 144 cases in total). The 4-year survival rates were 53.8%, 72.3% and 82.9% in the three groups, respectively. It can be seen that the number of cases of dilated cardiomyopathy has gradually increased, while the number of deaths has gradually decreased over the past 15 years.

According to years of clinical treatment, as long as dilated cardiomyopathy is treated persistently, it can still alleviate patients' pain and prolong their life, so there is no need to worry too much about this issue.

The cause of dilated cardiomyopathy is unknown. A small number of patients have family genetic factors and present with symptoms such as global heart enlargement, heart failure, edema, cough, wheezing, atrial fibrillation, cerebral infarction, hypertension, epilepsy, etc. The patient's symptoms gradually worsen and require long-term drug treatment. The average course of the disease is usually 5 years. It is recommended that you seek cardiology examination and treatment, pay attention to the combination of work and rest, control your diet, take medication on time, and control the three highs.