Question

A patient was recently diagnosed with cardiomyopathy. Which of the following would be expected?

Question 5 options:

The heart muscle would be increased in size or thicker than normal


The red blood cells inside the heart muscle would be altered in shape


There would be a decrease in cell division inside the heart walls


There would be an inability to filter out toxins from the blood

Answer 1

In the context of cardiomyopathy, the most expected finding from the given options would be:

**The heart muscle would be increased in size or thicker than normal.**

Cardiomyopathy is a disease of the heart muscle that can result in changes such as hypertrophy (thickening of the heart muscle) or dilation (enlargement of the heart chambers), depending on the specific type of cardiomyopathy.

The other options are not characteristic features of cardiomyopathy. Specifically:
- The red blood cells inside the heart muscle would not typically be altered in shape.
- There isn’t a direct decrease in cell division in the heart walls as a typical finding associated with cardiomyopathy.
- While toxins may accumulate in cases of heart failure related to cardiomyopathy, the inability to filter out toxins from blood is not a direct consequence of cardiomyopathy.

Therefore, the correct answer is the first option regarding the size or thickness of the heart muscle.