What kind of cardiomyopathy do you see in FA?

The cardiomyopathy in Friedreich’s is typically hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. That means the walls of the heart get really thick. This thickening of the heart muscle is also commonly found in mitochondrial cardiomyopathies, whether it’s due to Friedreich’s or not. Patients typically get a Friedreich’s ataxia diagnosis between the ages of 10 and 18. At that time, they frequently have a thick heart that functions fine. Then, over time, that thick heart begins to function worse and worse. In about 10 to 15 years, they can develop severe heart failure from this.