Inflammation and Immunity in Dilated Cardiomyopathy

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This is an application for partial funding of an American Heart Association sponsored workshop on "Inflammation and Immunity in Dilated Cardiomyopathy" to be held in May 2004 at the Hyatt Hotel in Bethesda, Maryland. The objective of this meeting is to bring together internationally-recognized experts in the fields of virology, cardiac pathology, cardiac molecular immunology, diagnostic imaging, epidemiology, and clinical trial design to discuss the current understanding of the pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment of dilated cardiomyopathy(DCM). Specific efforts have been made to ensure the participation of women and underrepresented minorities. The specific aims of this workshop are 1) to review the current understanding of cardiac inflammation and immunity as related to DCM at the cellular and molecular level, and to identify the most promising and critical areas for future clinical research efforts in the field. 2) To disseminate the workshop recommendations through publication and webcast. A copy of the final report will be provided to the NHLBI and Office of Rare Diseases (ORD) staff to help in the development of future programs. Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is an important cause of heart failure with an estimated prevalence of 36 cases per 100,000 in the USA. Over the past 12 years since the last NHLBI-sponsored workshop on this subject, there has been increasing evidence that abnormalities in cellular and humoral immunity contribute to the pathogenesis of DCM. However, these advances in the understanding of the pathogenesis and pathophysiology of DCM have not affected clinical diagnosis and treatment. Therefore, it is timely to organize a workshop to review the advances of the past decade in cardiac immunopathology as they impact the diagnosis and treatment of DCM. The long-term overall goal of this workshop is to translate advances in molecular and cellular mechanisms of disease into improvements in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with DCM.