heart lvh

MY HUSBAND IN 2004 HAD A MINOR HEART ATTACK AND WE DISCOVERED HE HAD LVH AND HE WAS PUT ON A STRICT DIET AND CHOLESTOROL  SINCE THIS HE HAS BEEN GETTING SOME PAIN IN HIS CHEST AND HE HITS HIS CHEST AND I AM WORRIED I KNOW THAT I NEED TO TAKE HIM TO THE DOCTOR BUT HE REFUSES TO GO.  I AM WONDERING IF THIS MEANS THAT THE LVH DISEASE HE HAD HAS BEEN PROGRESSING?

PLEASE ADVISE ON THIS CONCERN.

[kenkeith]

Left ventricle hypertrophy is an enlargement of heart's pumping chamber.  It can enlarge to a degree that impairs pumping contractions and less blood is pumped into circulation.  Less blood/oxygen output with each heartbeat (cardiac output) can cause chest pain, shortness of breath, muscle fatigue, etc. and if not properly or effectively treated results in heart failure.  When there is heart failure the lungs will become congested with fluids as blood received from the lungs backs up as the heart is weak to pump into circulation the received blood/oxygen.

[grendslori]

Sorry Kenkeith, I have to disagree. Left Ventricular Hypertrophy (LVH or Diastolic heart Failure) is not an enlargement of the heart pumping chamber; it is an enlargement (thickening) of the WALL only until very late in the disease process when the heart can become enlarged because of those thickened walls. What you are referring to is Systolic Heart Failure (CHF) where the left ventricle is enlarged and the pumping action is impaired. These are two different forms of heart disease; they are actually opposites. When the walls of the heart thicken too much, the blood supply within the walls (muscle) decreases and eventually is gone. That lack of blood supply deep within the muscle causes patients with LVH (HCM) to have angina. Eventually the patient with LVH will have angina even at rest. The patients with this form of heart disease do not have the congestive problems as you describe. The heart walls are not weak, The relaxation of the heart beat is where the problem is, not the actual pumping action. The chambers are narrowed and therefore the amount of blood that is in the chamber is less. Angina can be a sign of worsening heart disease. Call you doctor and let him know about this..

[kenkeith]

You are correct for LVH (pathogenic and not benign athlete's heart) and you may be referring to "predominant" LVH!  I was attempting to explain the progression of LVH to heart failure to answer queenbee's question regarding progression.

For clarification...opening sentence should have been "LVH often leads to...."  For ADDITIONAL insight in most cases of LVH, the left ventricle is being strained during the systole, the phase of the heartbeat in which the heart contracts to pump blood. Systolic overload (hypertension) tends to result in thickening but very little enlargement of the left ventricle, which is known as predominant LVH. Thickening of the heart muscle is considered a compensatory mechanism in response to excessive work. When this mechanism fails (Frank/Starling law of physics), HEART ENLARGEMENT (dilation) with subsequent heart failure may result. The most common cause of systolic overload is hypertension. OTHER CAUSES include aortic valve stenosis and congenital anomalies such as coarctation of the aorta.

[kenkeith]

QUOTE , referring to left ventricle hypertrophy: " The patients with this form of heart disease do not have the congestive problems as you describe. The heart walls are not weak, The relaxation of the heart beat is where the problem is, not the actual pumping action. The chambers are narrowed and therefore the amount of blood that is in the chamber is less. Angina can be a sign of worsening heart disease. Call you doctor and let him know about this"..
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So the integrity of the archives are maintained the above quote is not correct referring now to diastolic overload which is another aspect to LVH.
Diastolic overload is a strain on the left ventricle resulting from conditions that overload it with blood during diastole. This is the phase of the heartbeat in which the heart relaxes and takes in oxygen-rich blood, ready for the next contraction. In diastolic overload, the wall thickening can eventually be associated with progressive enlargement (dilatation) of the left ventricular chamber as it stretched to accommodate the extra blood as well as intra-chamber pressures.  A dilated LV will have weak chamber walls and this will lead to systole failure (congested heart  failue).