IRON OVERLOAD CARDIOMYOPATHIES - NEW INSIGHTS INTO AN OLD DISEASE

Iron overload cardiomyopathy is an old disease that has evolved from a rare undiagnosable and untreatable condition to a now much more commo n, diagnosable, and potentially treatable condition. Pathologically it is due to a direct free iron effect on the myocytes, and not due to i nterstitial infiltration. This also implies that the disease process i s reversible if the tissue iron concentration can be controlled. The a dvent of magnetic resonance imaging and future genetic identification can identify the population at risk. Chelation therapy, including newe r forms of oral chelators, likely will be more commonly available to b enefit an ever increasing number and spectrum of the population. Furth er active research will be needed to improve our pathophysiological un derstanding and clinical treatment of this increasingly common conditi on.