Mild enlargement not infrequent?

[rasp]

About a year and a half ago I noticed I was getting skipping beats of my heart.  My father has mitral valve prolapse so I figured it was nothing serious, but scheduled an appointment with his Cardiologist just to make sure.  He had me wear a Holter monitor and had an Echocardiogram done with doppler.  He called me at home to give me the results.  He said the Holter monitor recorded some premature beats that are benign and nothing to worry about.  He said the Echocardiogram recorded a normal structured heart with an ejection fraction of 60%, no valve issues or really anything else alarming.  He did say, however, that my heart was very minimally enlarged.  He said something about something measured 5.6 cm and the normal dimention is up to 5.4 cm and he said he's really not concerned since very mild enlargements are not infrequent in normal people and it could also be an inaccurate Echocardiogram measurement.

Now here's where I got a little ticked off.  I have Hypothyroidism, so my TSH levels are checked roughly every 5-6 months.  The last time I was in to see my regular doctor (Doctor of Internal Medicine), he said "We're going to check your heart function, too, since you have a weaker heart."  I told him I do NOT have a weak heart and my Cardiologist told me right up front that my heart muscle is strong (60% EF).  He looked at my chart and looked back and me and didn't say anything but he still had me get some type of blood test that he said checks for heart function and also had me get an EKG.  The only blood test I can find for the heart is one that checks for BNP levels for patients with heart failure, and that's something I do not have.  Needless to say, this blood test came back normal, as did my EKG.

My questions are these: 1) Mild enlargement of the heart, as long as its pumping power is good (EF), is not infrequent in normal individuals, correct?  2) What was this blood test I was given?  I had to pay quite a bit for it but never really looked at my out-patient form to see what type of blood test it was, or I just forgot it, either or.

Does anyone else have a very mild enlargement of the heart?  My uncle does also, but he's a very advid runner so that's no surprise.  Thanks for any input.

[anacyde]

Well 2.6 is normal, which should be very reassuring to you :)  Hang in there!

[rasp]

Well according to my math, and my BSA, I'm at 2.6 so I guess that's good.  I just hate when anything, as minimal as it may be, is "irregular" about my body.

[anacyde]

A simple formula if you know your end diastolic dimension and body surface area (just Google BSA Calculator) is EDD (yours is 5.6) divided by your BSA to determine if your heart size is normal for you.  Normal is less than 2.7 cms per meter squared body surface area.

[rasp]

According to his post, that'd put me in the 56mm category which is normal.  I never suspected I had anything wrong with my heart, as I'm 25, exercise regularly and do not smoke, drink or generally abuse my body.

Thanks for the post heads-up!

[ireneo]

Funny - while I was reading your post I was thinking, "Gosh, when it comes to heart size I don't think it's one size fits all; we vary so much in height, weight, athletic abilities." Then I read the msg just above yours by victric and the reply by Tony (very smart and informative guy) said the same thing. Made me smile. Anyway, for real answers, read Tony's msg. It will probably answer a lot of your questions.