Enlarged Left Ventricle

  My 21 year old nephew is having chest pains.  His doctor told him yesterday that he may have an enlarged left ventricle (ventrical?) and they will are going to do an EKG.  What is this and is there anywhere that I can read more about it (in terms that I'll understand)?

[CCF CARDIO MD APS]

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Dear Ann,
Your local library should have a book on the basics of the heart and it's diseases, and if not, the librarian can point you in the right direction, such as a comprehensive book store like Borders.

There are 4 main chambers in the heart, two upper (collecting, atrial) chambers and two lower (pumping, ventricular) chambers. The one you question is the left ventricle (lower chamber on the left side). The right ventricle pumps blood that has returned from the body to the lungs.(used blood, i.e., in a sense b/c it has had most of its oxygen extracted by the tissues throughout the body and is on its way back to the lungs to be re-oxygenated.) THE LEFT VENTRICLE pumps blood that has returned from the lungs (newly re-oxygenated) back out to the rest of the body.
I hope this information is useful. Information provided in the heart forum is for
general purposes only.  Only your physician can provided specific diagnoses and therapies.
Feel free to write back with further questions. Good luck!
If you would like to make an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center, please
call 1-800-CCF-CARE or inquire online by using the Heart Center website at
www.ccf.org/heartcenter. The Heart Center website contains a directory of the
cardiology staff that can be used to select the physician best suited to address your
cardiac problem.