Athletic Heart or Hypertrophy of the left ventricle Help !

Question

Hi 
I am a 34 Year old male.  For two years i have suffered Chest pain on and off, sinus tachardyia, sinus bradycardia, pvc's and pac's.  I have had Two previous echocardio grams which where normal , holtser monitors and a stress test.  Other than the occasional flat t wave i have been told i am fine and diagnosed with panic disorder.  However yesterday during another echo the dr stated that part of the wall on my heart was enlarged and thicker than it should be he did a stress test which i completed and told me the thickening was probably due to my gym work.  I am totally anxious about this diagnosis as a few hours after finishing the stress test i awoke to palpatations a feeling of dizziness and breathlessness.  I have been plagued by horrifc symptoms for over two years and feel like i have a serious heart defect, i was told a athletic heart would have no symptoms ? I do have all sorts of symptoms which have been put down to stress, my bp is up and down and my ck's have been raised a few times but not my tropion.  How can i be sure the enlargement is not left ventricle hypertrophy ?  What test would diagnose this for sure or rule it out please help i can not function with worry !

kenkeith · Answer

QUOTE: Hi I am  42 male my dr told me that my out put pressure is 32% out put from the left ventricle. what dose that mean 

>>>>>>Your doctor is referring to the ejection fraction (EF) and that is the amount of blood pumped ino circulation with each heartbeat.  Normal EF is 50 t0 70%.  Your doctor should inform you of the significance of your low EF and possibly treat.

pdillz · Answer

Hi I am  42 male my dr told me that my out put pressure is 32% out put from the left ventricle. what dose that mean

rdstoltzjr · Answer

Hi,
You are quite young, and really an ejection fraction of 86%  is normally something to be proud of. It indicates your heart is working strongly, and pumping the blood throughout the aorta etc. with vigor . What is your blood pressure, you indicate diastolic failure, as you know the diastolic is  the pressure during the pause after the heart hs pumped the blood  out of the chamber. This pressure should be below 89, down to 60 range. The lower the better. As you get older, the systolic pressure has a tendacy to rise and the diastolic has a tendacy to lower.
It sounds to me like you are a very healtthy fit person. The pvc's and pav's concern me more than the other problems you mention. Even though these things aren' necessary serious in themselves, they are stressful and cause many anziety problems.  Medication or ablation may be required to repair this problem.  Take care, pele34 and enjoy life!!!~

pele34 · Answer

Thanks
my cardiologist did not mention anything about regurattaion back to the lv he just said my ejection fraction is high 86% for my lv which i believe can be a bad sign ??? Problem is ai do have some symptoms linked to lv heart failure particularly dylostic failure how would u go about proving this or ruling it out ??

rdstoltzjr · Answer

Left ventricle hypertrophy is normally caused by regurgation back into the left ventricle due to a defective valve. this produices a murmur instead of the normal beat. Your eco did not show any valve leakage, no regurgation and no murmur. I thinky you can safely conclude that your left ventricle is due to your athletic  ability increasing the dimensions of the ventricle.  Everyone's blood pressure is up and down, (sometimes 20 points in 20 minutes) Take your blood pressure once a day, in a quiet place after resting for 5 minutes, do this for a week, and observe the fluctations, they will not be as dramatic as what you have been seeing. I think yjou do not need to worry, the symptons you are experiencing and worrying about are common symptons we all have at one time or another brought on by the stress of every day living.  LIFE IS HARD!!!

sansom · Answer

What does you usual gym work out look like (how often do you work out, what do you do...)? From what i understand, if it is an athletes heart, whatever abnormalities you have should go away from detraining.