Mr

[Dchat60]

I have thickened heart walls. My central heart wall is 17mm and my outside wall is 15mm. I have just started taking diovan 320 mg along with atenelol 50 mg . Will the diovan help reduce the thickness of my heart walls over time ? Thank you,   David Chatham

[kenkeith]

I'll add to what has been stated:
I had an enlarged heart 7 years ago and currently my heart size is normal with control of high blood pressure. Normally, heart walls are 11 mm or less in thickness, but patients with HCM have a characteristic thickening of the heart walls that can range from 14 to 60 mm. When wall (septum, central wall) if greatly enlarged it can cause obstuction to the aorta valve and reduce cardiac output. Thickened outside walls effect adequate filling of blood during diastole as the walls are rigid. And due high blood pressure the heart is pumping harder to effectively get the oxygen-rich blood around the body and muscle mass enlarges as any other muscle.

There is a chance that it may return to normal over time and may depend on the condition whether there is narrowing in the outflow tract aorta.  How the heart is functioning, your symptoms, age and exertion tolerance and any irregular heartbeats?

Thanks for you questions and if you have any further questions or comments you are welcome to respond.  Take care,

Ken.

[erijon]

Your thickened walls, call hypertrophy, are due to an underlying condition such as high blood pressure. This is because your heart is having to beat harder against the internal pressures so the walls like any other muscle get larger. Your new meds should help resolve the condition causing the walls to have grown thicker, however increased wall size due to Hypertrophy does not usually remodel itself back it's normal size. It is important to control the underlying cause and follow up to make sure this condition is not getting worse.

Hope this helps,

Jon