Familial dilated cardiomyopathy is a genetic form of heart disease. It occurs when heart (cardiac) muscle becomes thin and weakened in at least one chamber of the heart, causing the open area of the chamber to become enlarged (dilated). As a result, the heart is unable to pump blood as efficiently as usual. To compensate, the heart attempts to increase the amount of blood being pumped through the heart, leading to further thinning and weakening of the cardiac muscle. Over time, this condition results in heart failure.\n\nIt usually takes many years for symptoms of familial dilated cardiomyopathy to cause health problems. They typically begin in mid-adulthood, but can occur at any time from infancy to late adulthood. Signs and symptoms of familial dilated cardiomyopathy can include an irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia), shortness of breath (dyspnea), extreme tiredness (fatigue), fainting episodes (syncope), and swelling of the legs and feet. In some cases, the first sign of the disorder is sudden cardiac death. The severity of the condition varies among affected individuals, even in members of the same family.

Reduction of neurologic reflexes such as the knee-jerk reaction.

Exaggerated anterior convexity of the thoracic vertebral column.

Abnormally increased curvature (anterior concavity) of the lumbar or cervical spine.

The presence of an abnormal lateral curvature of the spine.

A lack of strength of the proximal muscles.

A flexion contracture is a bent (flexed) joint that cannot be straightened actively or passively. It is thus a chronic loss of joint motion due to structural changes in muscle, tendons, ligaments, or skin that prevents normal movement of joints.

Reduced ability to run.

An abnormally high degree of muscle fiber size variation. This phenotypic feature can be observed upon muscle biopsy.

Presence of abnormal vacuoles (membrane-bound organelles) in the sarcolemma. On histological staining with hematoxylin and eosin, rimmed vacuoles are popcorn-like clear vacuoles with a densely blue rim. The vacuoles are often associated with cytoplasmic and occasionally intranuclear eosinophilic inclusions.

Reduced ability to move the vertebral column with a resulting limitation of neck and trunk flexion.

Intracytoplasmic inclusions in myofibers that reduce nitro-blue tetrazolium (NBT) and thus stain strongly with the menadione-NBT stain.

An elevation of the level of the enzyme creatine kinase (also known as creatine phosphokinase (CK; EC 2.7.3.2) in the blood. CK levels can be elevated in a number of clinical disorders such as myocardial infarction, rhabdomyolysis, and muscular dystrophy.

Diminished length of the neck.