left atrium

[dave161]

What is an enlarged left atrium

[grendslori]

The left atrium is the chamber located above the left ventricle. An enlarged left atrium  can be one of two things: it is most commonly an enlarged chamber, more uncommonly, it can be the walls of the left atrium are enlarged. Either way, you need to know which it is and why you have this diagnoses. If the chamber is enlarged, that means there is a backflow from the left ventricle which is the main pumping chamber of the heart. Have you been diagnosed with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy? (HCM)

[kenkeith]

Frequently, an enlarged left atrium is caused by mitral valve insufficiency (valve between left atrium and left ventricle).  When blood leaks backward into the left atrium, it increases blood volume and pressure there. The increased blood pressure in the left atrium increases blood pressure in the veins leading from the lungs to the heart (pulmonary veins) and causes the left atrium to enlarge to accommodate the extra blood leaking back from the ventricle.

Valve stenosis (narrow opening) also will increase left atrium due to the gradient pressure between the left atrium and left venticle.

When the underlying condition is not successfully treated an extremely enlarged atrium often beats rapidly in an irregular pattern (a disorder called atrial fibrillation), which reduces the heart's pumping efficiency because the fibrillating atrium is quivering rather than pumping. Consequently, blood does not flow through the atrium normally, and blood clots may form inside the chamber. If a clot breaks loose (becoming an embolus), it is pumped out of the heart and may block an artery, possibly causing a stroke or other damage.