The author offers a critical review of the present knowledge about myocardiopathies and points out discordant opinions of various authors. He presents his own classification of this inhomogeneous group of myocardial diseases, based on the etiological principle. Special attention is given to the present status of diagnostic methods, the author pointing out the nonspecificity of individual signs and symptoms of the disease. It is emphasized that in two thirds of patients even a general practitioner is capable of diagnosing myocardiopathy on the basis of routine cardiological examinations (patient's history, physical examination, ECG and X-ray). This is of great practical importance because the prognosis--although essentially unfavourable--depends to a great extent on an early diagnosis. Finally, principles of therapy at myocardiopathies are presented.
作者对目前有关心肌病的知识进行了批判性回顾，并指出了不同作者之间不一致的观点。他基于病因学原理，对这一异质性心肌疾病组提出了自己的分类方法。文中特别关注了诊断方法的现状，作者指出该疾病个体体征和症状的非特异性。文中强调，在三分之二的患者中，即使是全科医生也能够根据常规心脏检查（患者病史、体格检查、心电图和X光检查）诊断出心肌病。这具有重大的实际意义，因为尽管预后基本上不容乐观，但在很大程度上取决于早期诊断。最后，介绍了心肌病的治疗原则。
