Left atrial enlargement

[inexperienced]

I just received an EKG today and was diagnosed  with a possible left atrial enlargement (-0.1MV P WAve IN V/1V2) .  My doctor had been monitoring my BP and said it was high for my age (34 years) and ordered one for me this morning.  I have to have an ultrasound on wednesday to confirm the results were indeed positive.  Is this uncommon at my age??

[kenkeith]

An EKG requires other tests,associated symptoms and signs to substantiate.  Artefacts, noise, in the electrical system can affect impulses and give misleading results as well as electrolyte imbalance, drugs, diet, etc..

Any condition causing left ventricular hypertrophy (enlargement) may produce left atrial enlargement as a secondary phenomenon...apparently you do not have an enlarged LVH.   Left atrial enlargement can occur secondary in association with systemic hypertension, aortic stenosis (narrow opening from left ventricle to system), mitral incompetence, and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Without LVH, and enlarged atrium can happen due to mitral valve stenosis (gradient pressure of a narrow valve (opening) from atrium to ventricle can increase pressure causing an enlarged atrium without enlarging the left ventricle in the short term..  

An ultrasound will calculate heart wall and chamber dimensions and that will be definitive.

[inexperienced]

Thanks for the response....forgive me for my ignorance.  I wasn't sure what to make of it as my Doctor was'nt very specific.  I guess he didn't want me to worry and said the test (EKG) might have overread.  I have an ultrasound of my heart tommorrow and a bit worried that something is wrong with my heart.  I guess my question was...Do faulty EKG's happen very often?  Is it possible that my heart is normal and high BP doesn't necessarily mean i have a left atrial enlargement?

[kenkeith]

QUOTE: "(-0.1MV P WAve IN V/1V2) .  My doctor had been monitoring my BP and said it was high..."
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I'm not sure about your question and the EKG reading format is confusing.  I assume reading should be 0.1 MV (millivolts) P wave on leads V1/V2....

It is the P wave length that measures left atrial abnormality. The P wave normally lasts less than 0.11 seconds (not MV, millivolts). An abnormally long P wave occurs whenever it takes extra time for the electrical wave to reach the entire atrium. This occurs in left atrial enlargement.