What is Myocardial Fibrosis? What are the symptoms of Myocardial fibrosis? How can homoeopathy help you? All of this is answered, in this post, and of course, our doctors are always there to help you. Just fill in your details in the form down below and we will answer all your questions for FREE!
Overview: It is a common pathophysiologic condition that causes scar tissue formation in the heart. It can be caused by any condition that causes damage to the heart, but a heart attack leads the way.
“Fibrosis” means scarring and the term “myocardial” means muscle of the heart.
Treatment for myocardial fibrosis involves treating the underlying cause, e.g. when it is caused by diabetes – Induced heart failure, the treatment is based on treating diabetes.
Myocardial fibrosis, or fibrosis of the myometrium is the formation of scar tissue in the heart muscle. It arises when the heart’s fibroblasts produce collagenous tissue in response to cardiac damage. The most common cause is a “heart attack”.
Scar formation is the step of the wound healing process, but this scar lacks the properties of a healthy heart. A larger number of scars can cause blood flow obstruction and thus result in heart failure.
In other words, myocardial fibrosis is the accumulation of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins in the cardiac interstitium when the heart is damaged.
The heart is comprised of three layers:
The myocardium is the muscular layer that lies in between the inner endocardium and the outer epicardium. It makes up the bulk of the heart and contains muscles that are responsible for pumping blood into the body.
It is composed of specialized cells called cardiomyocytes, which have a special cellular feature correlating to their contractile function.
The myocardium controls the relaxation and contraction of the heart walls to pump and receive blood from the body. In addition, it also provides a scaffold for heart chambers.
| Definition | The middle muscular layer of the heart |
| Function | Contraction and relaxation of the heart;
Stimuli conduction; Scaffold of the heart chambers |
There are two types of myocardial fibrosis:
Interstitial fibrosis is divided into two subtypes:
Both types can be present at the same time together.
Myocardial fibrosis is the result of an underlying heart disease or damage to the heart. The most common cause is heart failure.
Symptoms of heart failure include:
It is caused by chronic or acute damage to the heart. It can be because of:
Myocardial infarction (heart attack): This is the most common cause of myocardial fibrosis. It is caused by the lack of blood flow to a part of the heart due to blockage in the arteries. Lack of blood supply results in the death of heart cells. Fibrosis develops when the dead cells are replaced by scar formation.
Blood pressure overload: Myocardial fibrosis can also develop in response to the conditions causing an overload of blood pressure. Scar formation starts when heart walls are damaged because of increased pressure. These include:
Blood volume overload: There are many conditions leading to increased blood volume in the heart such as aortic or mitral regurgitation. They can cause a backflow of blood through the heart.
Inflammation: Inflammatory conditions can cause scar formation in the heart. These include:
Toxicity: Toxicity because of some medications or chemotherapy can damage the heart cells and lead to scar formation.
Genetic mutations: Some hereditary conditions also lead to myocardial fibrosis e.g.:
When the heart cells are damaged, fibroblasts become activated and differentiate into myofibroblasts. Myofibroblasts increase the production of proteins and get them deposited in the extracellular matrix (ECM). Collagen, which is already present in the myocardium increases in case of myocardial fibrosis. This increased production of collagen makes the myometrium stiffer and difficult to break with proteinase. As collagen increases, fibrosis occurs which restricts the oxygen supply to the myometrium. Myocardial fibrosis causes electrical and structural changes in the myometrium and results in arrhythmias, heart failure, and ischemia.
There are no specific medicines for myocardial fibrosis. However, the treatment revolves around treating the underlying cause e.g. Heart attack treatment involves:
While there is no antifibrotic medicine, some people benefit from the medicines that help improve heart function and low ejection fraction. These medicines include:
Myocardial fibrosis is a result of an underlying cardiovascular disorder. Cardiovascular diseases can range from mild to severe, such as heart attacks. There are several homoeopathic medicines available in such cases, but the selection depends upon the individuality of the patient. The medicines are:
If detected early, it can be successfully reversed. It is only possible with an effective regeneration treatment and when the fibrosis has been confined to the interstitium and not associated with the high levels of crosslinked ECM. However, when it has progressed to an advanced stage, the chances of reversible changes are less.
The overall life expectancy of myocardial fibrosis patients is 65% at 5 years and 59% at 10 years.
For more information, you can visit Healthline and NCBI
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** The text on this website is sourced from websites like emedicine and/or other verified material by government agencies around the globe along with valuable inputs and additions by our team. The content of this page is proofread and updated by the team of doctors, every once in a while, to provide the most accurate information.
