Your Appointment with the Familial Cardiomyopathy Program
Discovering that a family member has a cardiomyopathy can be frightening. The realization that others you love might be affected can be overwhelming.
Making appointments with the appropriate cardiologists, for yourself and other members of your family, is one of the best things you can do. It means you are taking steps to protect your loved ones.
In most cases, the family members we evaluate don’t have cardiomyopathies. However, if they do, they will be in the hands of two great teams. The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Penn Medicine are among the best in the country in the treatment and management of cardiomyopathies.
Appointments at CHOP
After an adult is diagnosed with a cardiomyopathy at Penn Medicine, the adult cardiologist may recommend that children in the family see a pediatric cardiologist the Cardiac Center at CHOP. Your child’s first appointment will include:
- A detailed medical history
- A physical exam
- An echocardiogram
- An electrocardiogram
If your child is found to have a cardiomyopathy, the team will recommend and begin appropriate treatment. If your child shows no evidence of a cardiomyopathy, he may still need to visit the cardiologist for checkups every one to three years until adulthood, as cardiomyopathies can develop with age.
In some cases, blood tests can show if family members carry gene differences that may cause cardiomyopathies.
Appointments at Penn Medicine
If a child is diagnosed with cardiomyopathy at CHOP, the pediatric cardiologist may recommend that parents, and in some cases other adult family members, see an adult cardiologist at the Penn Heart & Vascular Center. An adult’s first appointment will include:
- A detailed medical history
- A physical exam
- An echocardiogram
- An electrocardiogram
If a cardiomyopathy is found, the team will recommend and begin appropriate treatment. If there is no evidence of the condition, they will make recommendations regarding future screening. As with children, in some cases, blood tests can show if family members carry gene differences that may cause cardiomyopathies. Discovering that a family member has a cardiomyopathy can be frightening. The realization that others you love might be affected can be overwhelming.
Making appointments with the appropriate cardiologists, for yourself and other members of your family, is one of the best things you can do. It means you are taking steps to protect your loved ones.
In most cases, the family members we evaluate don’t have cardiomyopathies. However, if they do, they will be in the hands of two great teams. The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Penn Medicine are among the best in the country in the treatment and management of cardiomyopathies.