[Current knowledge of cardiomyopathy].

In 1961, 1964 and 1970, Goodwin proposed a somewhat unwield definition of cardiomyopathies, which was subsequently shortened to "Heart muscle disease of unknown cause" and separated from heart muscle diseases due to conditions involving organs other than the heart: the "specific heart muscle diseases". The cardiomyopathies thus defined were divided into hypertrophic, dilated and restrictive types and their classification was confirmed by the WHO/ISFC Task Force and the report of the WHO Expert Committee on cardiomyopathies in 1984. The cardiomyopathies are now classified by the dominant pathophysiology or where possible by aetiological/pathogenic factors. The modifications proposed by Dr Peter Richardson are timely and reflect revised ways of looking at problems that still face us. They are classified as dilated cardiomyopathy, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, restrictive cardiomyopathy, and arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy. Unclassified cardiomyopathies include a few cases that do not fit readily with any group. The term specific cardiomyopathies is now used to describe heart muscle diseases which are associated with specific cardiac or systemic disorders.