Turkish Journal of
GERIATRICS

Kocaeli Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi, Kardiyoloji Anabilim Dalı, KOCAELİ Cardiomyopathies are an important cause of heart disease in the elderly. Clinical presentations and natural history of the cardiomyopathies in older and younger patients may show some differences. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is common and changes in left ventricular structure by aging often create diffi culties in differentiating pathologic states from physiologic. The prognosis for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is more favorable in the elderly than in younger patients. Dilated cardiomyopathy is also common and elderly patients have a worse prognosis than younger patients with this disease. The medical management of dilated cardiomyopathy is often more difficult in the elderly, Restrictive cardiomyopathy with diastolic dysfunction is increasingly recognized as a cause of congestive heart failure in elderly patients. Non-compaction of the ventricular myocardium is a rare disorder. Although most cases are detected in infancy, late clinical onset has been reported in some cases at an age >70 years in the literature. In this review, clinical features of primary cardiomyopathies in the elderly are summarized. Keywords : Cardiomyopathy; Aged