What is the most common cause of dilated cardiomyopathy?

The most common cause of dilated cardiomyopathy is often classified as idiopathic, which means that the exact origin or cause is unknown. In clinical practice, this term is frequently used to describe a situation where despite thorough investigations, no specific or identifiable etiology for the heart condition can be determined.

Idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy accounts for a significant proportion of cases, and it's also crucial to recognize that various potential risk factors may contribute to the development of the condition without being definitively tied as causative agents. This ambiguity surrounding the cause makes idiopathic cases the predominant category within dilated cardiomyopathy.

While alcohol abuse, chemotherapy drugs, and viral infections are recognized contributors to the development of dilated cardiomyopathy, they represent more specific cases where a clear link to an identifiable risk factor can be demonstrated. For example, heavy alcohol consumption can lead to direct myocardial toxicity, certain chemotherapeutic agents can damage cardiac myocytes, and viral infections can provoke inflammatory responses within the heart muscle. However, these factors do not account for the majority of presenting cases, hence the prevalence of idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy.