Left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVD, but commonly called heart failure) is a chronic, progressive heart syndrome in which a damaged heart fails to beat efficiently and deliver enough blood to meet the needs of the body. needs. Although coronary heart disease (CHD) is the most common cause, e.g. myocardial infarction, and many conditions are closely related, there are several other causes of heart failure, including cardiomyopathies, hypertension and valvular diseases. Cardiomyopathies can be caused by genetic disorders. /defects, viral diseases, certain endocrine diseases, autoimmune diseases and excessive consumption of alcohol and drugs. Pharmacological treatment for diagnosed LVSD is essentially the same, although it is recognized that lifestyle advice may differ depending on the cause or exposure to environmental factors. For the purposes of this review, I have chosen to focus on cardiomyopathy which has generally been subdivided into a specific group. diagnosis of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), restrictive cardiomyopathy (RCM), and arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia (ARVD). HCM and DCM are usually “diagnosed” separately and as individual diagnoses, but it appears that a single genetic defect can lead to heart failure syndrome. Ms Jane Thomson is a 24 year old woman with a diagnosis of heart failure with underlying heart failure. cause of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, the only other feature in his medical history was bulimia during his adolescence. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathies often have preserved systolic function with impaired left ventricular compliance and diastolic dysfunction, but Jane also had signs and symptoms of left ventricular dysfunction....... middle of article...... rmeulen A, Kho TL; Anderson-Fabry disease: alpha-galactosidase deficiency. Lancet. January 13, 2001; 357 (9250): 138-40. Available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11197415?dopt=Abstract Accessed July 8, 2010 Schmitt JP et. al. Dilated cardiomyopathy and heart failure caused by a phospholamban mutation. Science 2003 299, 5611: 1410-13Scottish Intercollegiate Guideline Network (SIGN) 95 (2007): Management of chronic heart failure (online). Available at: http://www.sign.ac.uk/pdf/sign95.pdf (Accessed June 8, 2010)Watt S, Bueser T, Robert ML P. (2009). A multidisciplinary hereditary heart disease service within a regional clinical genetics service. British Journal of Cardiac Nursing. 4(7), 325Zaragoza M, Arbustini E, Narula J (2007) Left ventricular noncompaction: primary cardiomyopathy with an elusive genetic etiology.Curr Opin Pediat 19: 619–27