What did doc mean

[William Wilson]

Hi. I recently passed a medical for my dream job. It was very thorough but after my ecg the doc said I had a mild hyerthrophic heart which he said was more than likely down to the amount of physical activity I do. I am a swimmer and put in about 10000meters per week. I also cycle about 40 miles per week for cross training purposes. I'm a 30 yo male. He did not seem at all concerned about this and told me I'd passed with no problems.
He said if it was more sinister he would have found something abnormal as "again" the medical was very thorough.
I have read up on Hyperthrophic cardiomyopathy and am a little worried. should bother another doc with a 2nd opinion? and is it possible to have a mild hyerthrophic heart through sport.

thanks for your time.

[CCF CARDIO MD JMF]

This is also called athletes heart.  You will also notice that your pulse is likely to be low.  Just like any muscle, your heart will become larger just like your biceps with exercise and training.

[debbie]

This is very interesting to me...I look forward to seeing the doctor's response.  My 15 yr old daughter is a competitive swimming, don't know the yardage, but she swims about 20-25 hours per week, plus meets.  She had an abnormal EKG and right atrial enlargement, and a slight murmur, but after extensive testing was determined to have no cardiac problems.  She was even released from the pediatric cardiologists care and doesn't even have to go back for any more rechecks.  They never explained what caused the right atrial enlargement, just that it was nothing to worry about.  I wonder if that is the same thing you are talking about. Thanks for asking the question...hope the swimming and cross training goes well.

[CCF CARDIO MD JMF]

Please see my prior post.

[Katie]

What if the teenage athlete's heart rate and blood pressure go up after the physical exertion of the sport, even on medication? Also, is it of concern when the child sweats to profusely while trying to fight against the beta blocker which is lowering the heart rate? They had to use mops to clean up the basketball court from my son's sweat. He has LVH, rt. atrial enlargement, ST-T segment changes, mild MVP, tricuspid insufficiency, etc., etc. plus a now 37# weight loss since late August 1999. Right now he is out of athletics. I have written about him above; there are a number of posts regarding "Teenager Going Downhill" or "Please Answer-Teenager Still Going Downhill", etc.  Suddenly last month, his pupils became massively dilated, basically non-reactive to light, and then two days later were unequal in size. I realize he has dysautonomia, the cause of which we still have to find, but what about the cardiac damage he already has? Also, on tilt table testing last month we found that when lying down, he is now hypotensive and brady, while being brought upright, all is normal, and then upright, he is normal to hypertensive and tachy. How can any of his docs feel it is safe to return him to all these fairly brutal high school athletics when we still don't even know what's wrong with him?  What would cause a teenage athlete, always in absolutely fabulous physical condition, to go from hyper- to hypotensive, brady to tachy (he had a renal angiogram with venous and arterial sampling secondary to the discovery of bilateral abdominal bruits, but no renal artery stenosis was apparently seen).

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[CCF CARDIO MD JMF]

Dysautonomias with rapid swings in blood pressure may affect the heart.  But the degree to which this happens is variable and based on the individual.  You son should have routine follow up and have his blood pressure monitored and controlled.