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Restrictive cardiomyopathy is one of the possible causes investigated when a person has heart failure. The diagnosis is based largely on the results of a physical examination, electrocardiography (ECG), and echocardiography. ECG can typically detect abnormalities in the heart’s electrical activity, but they are not specific enough for a diagnosis. Echocardiography shows that the atria are enlarged and that the heart is functioning normally only when the heart contracts (during systole).

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can detect abnormal texture in heart muscle due to accumulation of or infiltration with abnormal substances, such as iron and amyloid. Although the procedure is not often necessary, doctors sometimes do cardiac catheterization to measure pressures in the heart chambers and remove a sample of heart muscle for examination under a microscope (biopsy), which may enable doctors to identify the infiltrating substance.

Restrictive cardiomyopathy can be mistaken for a condition called constrictive pericarditis. This condition causes the sac like membrane around the heart (the pericardium) to become inflamed and thickened. Surgery can usually correct constrictive pericarditis. On the other hand, restrictive cardiomyopathy cannot be corrected surgically. Instead, doctors will try to control its symptoms.

Restrictive Cardiomyopathy Diagnostic

1.Cardiac catheterization can show movement and force of blood through the heart (called hemodynamic analysis).

2.A biopsy of tissue from the wall of your heart may help doctors find out how seriously your heart has been damaged, or what process may be causing the damage.

3.Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can give detailed pictures of the heart and its various structures.

4.Computed tomography (CT) scanning gives slice-like pictures of your heart that can be used to show how the heart is working.

5.Echocardiography can be used to show the size of your heart and how much muscle damage there is.

Restrictive Cardiomyopathy Exams and Tests

1.Lung crackles and abnormal or distant heart sounds when listening to the chest with a stethoscope (auscultation)
2.Distended neck veins
3.Fluid backup into the lungs, hands and feet, gastrointestinal tract, and liver
4.Signs of heart failure
5.Echocardiogram and Doppler study
6.ECG (electrocardiogram)
7.Coronary angiography
8.Chest X-Ray
9.Chest MRI scan
10.Chest CT scan

Restrictive cardiomyopathy may be hard to tell apart from constrictive pericarditis. A biopsy of the heart muscle or cardiac catheterization may help confirm the diagnosis.