title: Epidemiologic and clinical characteristics of cardiomyopathies in Japan: results from nationwide surveys.
abstract: Nationwide clinico-epidemiological surveys of cardiomyopathies in Japan were carried out. Disorders surveyed included idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), restrictive cardiomyopathy (RCM), arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia (ARVD), mitochondrial disease, Fabry's disease of the heart and prolonged Q-T interval syndrome. The total number of patients was estimated at 17,700 for DCM, 21,900 for HCM, 300 for RCM, 520 for ARVD, 640 for mitochondrial disease, 150 for Fabry's disease of the heart, and 1,000 for prolonged Q-T interval syndrome. The prevalence of both DCM and HCM was higher in men than women: the male-to-female ratios were 2.6 and 2.3 for DCM and HCM, respectively. Detailed data on patients with DCM or HCM were collected by a follow-up survey. In 1 year more patients with DCM (5.6%) died than with HCM (2.8%): congestive heart failure (CHF) and arrhythmias were the leading causes of death for DCM and HCM, respectively. Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (64.6%) and beta-adrenergic blockers (40.9%) are commonly used to treat the CHF complicating DCM and may be associated with the clinical improvement in a significant number of DCM patients. Thus, the nationwide surveys of Japanese patients have yielded important current epidemiological and clinical information on the characteristics of cardiomyopathies in Japan.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan. amat@kuhp.kyoto-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Matsumori
authors.forename: Yutaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Furukawa
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hasegawa
authors.forename: Yukihito
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Hideaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nakagawa
authors.forename: Yuko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Morikawa
authors.forename: Katsuyuki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Miura
authors.forename: Yoshiyuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ohno
authors.forename: Akiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tamakoshi
authors.forename: Yutaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Inaba
authors.forename: Shigetake
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sasayama
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D009202:Cardiomyopathies / Q000145:classification / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012907:Smoking