16 yr old passes out in gym

[holidays08]

Hello,
I was wondering if anyone could give me information on LVH . How serious and treatment . My 16 yr old son passed out in gym class on friday. went to ED . Had EKG and was told to see cardiac doc as EKG showed LVH . He is healthy but does complain of being dizzy after playing baseball or other active sports. He does have two sisters who have had open heart surgery one due to VSD and his twin 3 times for valve replacement due to TOF w/ absent pulmonary valve. Than you for any and info
Greatly appreciated.
concerned mom

[holidays08]

Thank you . As I said my son  is only 16. I did want to take him to our pediatric cardiologist but they said there was no rush and they would see him in three months. When we were in the emergency room the doc said one week to see cardiology. I was slightly irritated to say the least. My daughters see the pediatric cardiologist but that gave me no pull :) I thought considering we have heart issues in two of our kids they would want to see my son sooner. I called an adult cardiologist and they said waiting was not in his best interest and set a visit for today ( three days after ED visit) .
I asked that the ED send the reading to the pediatric doc and of course they did not call me back :( . I did call them and they said it looked fine and had no concerns.
I am still taking him to the adult cardiologist as I would like them to see the whole picture and run some test.
It probably did show nothing but I and my son deserve peace of mind .
Fingers crossed .
Thank you again

[updownleftright]

Well when I was diagnosed It was while playing soccer for a mens premier team in Romania. It came during a routine medical check that the team under goes twice a year. Anyway there was some debate whether I just had athletes heart of LVH, but I was a little too young to have athletes heart at that point.

Personally I had no symptoms what so ever. I felt 1000% Never felt any abnormal dizziness. Sometimes it's normal to feel some lightheaded after intense cardio as a persons blood pressure can drop, but this shouldn't happen with light workouts.

I will say this, whether or not it's because of the LVH or not I don't know, but I'll throw it out there anyways. I did notice that my heart would take just a little bit longer to recover than everyone else on my team. When doing running we take our heart rates to see how fast it comes back down to around 80-90 so that we can know when we're ready to start again, and mine would always be 1-2 minutes slower than others from my team.

As far as treatment goes it's usually blood pressure medication to prevent further damage as high blood pressure is the number one cause. However, LVH can also be a genetic disorder in which case I'm not entirely sure of the treatment, but I'd assume it's the same as any other heart disorder. Just watch your blood pressure, eat healthy, and try to get regular exercise.

Just wait till your son has his echo as ECG's aren't very good for diagnosing LVH in younger people. The R wave which is higher in someone with LVH can also be naturally higher in teenagers. So LVH may or may not be the problem. If it is, you'll want to the exact thickness of the LV wall, and make sure you ask the doctor specific details about exercise etc. If he's unable to give you them than see another cardiologist, and get a second echo. I've had 3 conflicting echo's off by as much as 5mm when diagnosing my LVH, which is quite a lot when it comes to this condition.In the end I got an MRI just to be sure.

[holidays08]

Thank you for getting back to me and sharing your story. I was wondering what kind of treatment one gets with LVH ?
My son is not an athlete but does go outside daily (regardless of weather ) and does get exercise.
He was running in gym class and pushing himself when he passed out but also complains of being dizzy if he participates in minimal exercise like throwing a Frisbee or basket ball for only 5-10 min . Did you notice the same when you were 17 and diagnosed ?
He will be heading off to college shortly as he will be a senior in high school next year so I am worried.
Do you take meds for your condition ?
Thank you again  

[updownleftright]

I was diagnosed with LVH at age 17. Although my LVH was very borderline. Most important thing is to keep his blood pressure down to prevent it from getting worse, this sometimes can lead to improvement of the LVH as well. Also it's important to continue exercising. Depending on how just how severe his LVH is he might have to stay away from sports that need a lot of short bursts of speeds (sprinting, jumping etc), but he should be able to still jog. Obviously you'll want to consult with the cardiologist about this, but keeping up with exercise is the most important thing he can do. As we age the heart chambers get smaller and so we pump less blood out, this can be troublesome to someone with LVH, but exercise can prevent, or minimize just how much this happens. So it's important he continue to do so.

[Jerry_NJ]

How did ED diagnose the LVH?  Did they do a echocardiogram? I think that is the best way to measure the physical characteristics of the heart.

LVH is a symptom, but I believe not a cause, that is what has caused the thickening of the left ventricle?  Given the age involved one would doubt it is caused by high blood pressure.  

A cardiologist needs to be consulted, and it sounds like you have more than your share of dealing with cardiologists.  In the mean time it seems best to keep you son's physical activity at a minimum, that is no athletic activity or strenuous physical work.  

Hope you get more informed help here, but know you must consult a cardiologist to get the best answer.