RVH and cardiomegaly

  Hi,
  i'm 20 and was just enlisted into army a few months ago. During obstacle training about two months ago, i fell from a log ladder in between two logs and the lower part of my left chest collided with a log.
  After that i often experience chest tightness and breathing difficulty especially during physical exertion. My left hand also lost its strength, and tremble if i exert strength for too long. i was given beserol and ponstan for my pain but i have stopped eating cos they don;t seem to work sometimes.
  i was diagnosed with RVH and cardiomegaly by my doctor and will be seeing a specialist soon, he has advised me to stop all strenuous physical activies. However, recently i had another pain between my ribs whenever i swallow food, the doctor says its an infection and gave me antacid and amoxycillin, after which i feel giddyness more often
  i'm still very worried, becos sometimes after climbing a flight of stairs up , my head feels very light and i feel like fainting, i also experience sudden twitching all over my body quite often.
  i can't seem to find a similar case to mine yet on the net. Is my problem serious? Will i be able to continue physical activities?
  Thanks in advance.

[CCF Cardio MD - MTR]

Dear Han, thank you for your question.  I doubt your fall has much to do with the symptoms you describe because even if you had a cardiac contusion, that should have resolved by now.  I'm curious how the diagnosis of RVH and cardiomegaly was made -perhaps with a chest x-ray and an ECG.  If you indeed had these disorders, the fall you describe may just be coincidentally related to this diagnosis.  RVH is caused by a variety of congenital cardiac disorders and diseases of the pulmonary arteries that cause the pulmonary artery pressures to become elevated.  Were you ever diagnosed with a congenital cardiac disorder as a child?  The chest pressure, shortness of breath, and lightheadedness you describe sound like symptoms related to congestive heart failure which could be present if you have cardiomegaly.  Most likely, the specialist you are planning to see will recommend an ultrasound of the heart called an echocardiogram to better determine your heart's function and whether cardiomegaly is truly present.  I can't answer the question about whether you will be able to continue physical activities because it's not clear to me what disorder you have.  You should ask the specialist you will see about physical activity.  

I hope you find this information useful.  Information provided in the heart forum is for general purposes only.  Only your physician can provide specific diagnoses and therapies. Please feel free to write back with additional questions.
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.