is left ventricular hypertrophy dangerous??

hi guys,i have not been on these forums but i am back now and i finally have a diagnosis. i have congestive heart failure and lvh. this really ***** because i am just 31 and have never smoked or done drugs or drank any alcohol. i have to take lots of medication...beta blockers,coreg and lasix. i have had some fluid buildup in my lungs. my primary dr. is off until january 6 and i have some concerns. can left ventricular hypertrophy lead to ventricular tachycardia?? my ekg shows the classic lvh with strain pattern. my quality of life is ruined and i will probably live on medications for as long as i live. if i ever get v-tach,i would probably die because i live all by myself. my heart rate,even with medication gets up real real high..for instance,today..after buying some food and coming home...my HR was 175 at rest and finally after an hour,it was down to 110.   thanks for your help guys.

[is_something_wrong]

Hello.

I would strongly assume that your heart failure (and certainly your LVH) is caused by high blood pressure. If so, your more precise diagnosis is possibly hypertensive cardiomyopathy?

The good news is that at your age, if you get your weight and blood pressure under control, the LVH (and your cardiomyopathy) often returns to normal. You should work together with your doctors. I also assume you suffer from anxiety and depression (not talking about your ST segment here..) which you may get help for..

LVH is really common (it's seen in most people with high blood pressure to some degree) but your case seems somewhat more serious, with strain pattern (ST depression and inverted T in the left precordial leads). By the way, was your coronary arteries clear? Ventricular tachycardia (the dangerous form) usually occur with old heart attacks (though LVH can increase the risk a little).

It sounds like your condition is very bad and you should get some help with lifestyle changes ASAP. Weight loss, anxiety and depression management, exercise (after asking your doctor!!) and blood pressure control is necessary to get better. But do not make any changes without asking your doctor.

There is hope! :) Take care, my friend..

[is_something_wrong]

By the way, I assume the diagnosis "hypertrophic cardiomyopathy" is ruled out..

[grendslori]

Boy, I have to leave for the weekend so I can't get back on the forum until Monday. I am real curious about your post as my daughter had the same EKG readings when she was 6 years old. It is important to know if you actually have CHF as the burn out stage of LVH. This is important to know as in some cases of LVH, CHF is the result. At first the wall/s are too thick and as the disease progresses, the walls begin to thin out. As mentioned above: do you have HBP? Have you had any family member diagnosed with HCM? Or any family members who have died at a young age? Heart rates that are as high as you are describing can be dangerous because the thickened walls of the ventricle cannot relax to allow the chambers to be filled. That, in turn, can aggrivate the ventricles and cause arrhythmias to occur. Thickened walls can cause small heart attacks on an ongoing basis because the coronary arteries are located on the outside of the heart, they break down into smaller vessels to feed the heart wall. In HCM, the walls outstrip the blood supply causing minor heart attacks. My daughter had her first heart attack when she was 12. I have to go for now, but I'll be back on Monday; keep us posted. Also, one peice of advise: be evaluated by a good University Hospital cardiology department where HCM is seen more often. They are usually places where transplants can be done. The Cleveland Clinic and Mayo Clinics are probably the two top HCM Center Of Excellents. Go there if you can.  

[justanumber]

thanks for your replies guys. is_something_wrong...yes,you are right,i am very anxious each day because i live alone and my heart is causing me trouble. my coronary arteries are good,that pain was due to the CHF and heart thickening. and i have started to change my diet and hopefully when my high blood pressure goes down,the lvh will go away too.

grendslori,sorry about your daughter..having a heart attack at 12 is awful. how is she doing now?

[michellepetkus]

I am sorry to hear about your diagnosis of CHF but I am glad you are now being treated and taking steps to get back some quality of life.  I know it doesn't feel that way but without proper treatment you could have led yourself into an even more dire circumstance.  So do what you can to get the fluid off your lungs and I am sure with just that you will feel better and then do your best to get as healthy as possible and all you need to care for your condition and hopefully things will turn brighter for you.  Stay strong and fight the good fight as they say.  : )

[is_something_wrong]

It's great that your coronary arteries are open!! :)

I didn't know they labelled hypertensive cardiomyopathy as "CHF", I thought this was reserved for dilated cardiomyopathy.. But LVH will, as I mentioned, often reduce with lowered blood pressure.

If you were able to keep a blood pressure of 270 mmHg systolic and a heart rate of 170, your heart still does have good pumping abilities (not that this "test" was very healthy..). I believe if you lose some weight and reduce your anxiety, it will be easier to be social and make friends too..

[grendslori]

Lowering BP will decrease the size of the thickness of the walls, if that is the cause of the problem, but BPs of 270 systolic is dangerous for anyone and while a heart rate of 170 is very unpleasent, that too can be dangerous in an HCM heart. All of this seriously needs to be gotten under control!

To justanumber: My daughter had a heart transplant at 22 and now is in chronic CHF. (transplants don't last forever). She will not be retransplanted.

[michellepetkus]

I am sorry to hear about your daughter's heart troubles.  It makes some of our issues not so troublesome after all.  I wish her well.  

[holidays08]

I have a question if anyone could help. I have a 16 year old son who is healthy. On friday he passed out while running the track in gym class. The school nurse came to the track, took his blood pressure and was not able to hear a pressure. she then called the ambulance. While at the ED my son was told to follow up w/ cardio as his EKG showed Lest ventricular hypotrophy . I was wondering just how serious this is. My son said he doe get very dizzy after exercise.
I should mention I have two daughters that are cardiac patients . One has a VSD repair at age 7 via open heart surgery and the other has had three open heart surgeries for pulmonary valve replacement as she was born with TOF W/ ABSENT PULMONARY VALVE. She is my sone twin who was just diagnosed .
Thank you for any and all information on LVH .
Greatly appreciated