dialated cardiomyopathy

  My father was told by his dr. that he had slightly enlarged heart.  He is 60 years old and has never been diagnosed with this before.  Should he be concerned?  Has he always had this?  Can a virus cause this, such as the flu?   Thank you

[CCF CARDIO MD APS]

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Dear Keith,
There are many things that can cause a "slightly enlarged heart", including a viral infection, long standing hypertension, diabetes, a heart attack, even extreme physical conditioning can produce this.  The important thing Keith is that your father have all the possible causes considered by his physician (usually the cause is not known) and most important, that he be followed on a regular basis by his physician.  It is possible that yes, he has always had this slight enlargement, so there is no cause for alarm but surely one should not ignore it either, tell your father to follow regularly with his physician and more frequently if he develops any symptoms (like shortness of breath, chest pain, etc.)
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.