Causes of Restrictive Cardiomyopathy

For people with restrictive cardiomyopathy, the ventricles become stiff and rigid due to the accumulation of abnormal material within the tissue of the heart muscle. Foreign material in the tissues keeps the heart muscle from relaxing normally, which inhibits the ventricles from adequately filling with blood. This in turn can cause the atria to enlarge. Eventually, blood flow in the heart is reduced, and complications such as heart failure or arrhythmias can develop.

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Restrictive cardiomyopathy can be idiopathic--occurring for no known reason--or it can develop as the result of radiation treatment to the chest, infection, scarring of the heart muscle after surgery, or other diseases. Connective tissue disorders such as progressive systemic sclerosis (scleroderma) and pseudoxanthoma elasticum may cause restrictive cardiomyopathy. Other diseases that deposit abnormal material in the tissues of the heart, including amyloidosis and hemochromatosis, can also lead to restrictive cardiomyopathy. Unfortunately, these underlying causes of restrictive cardiomyopathy are often not treatable. Restrictive cardiomyopathy can also lead to dilated cardiomyopathy.