enlarged atrium

[geeoashley]

my 11 year old soon has an enlarged atrium i want to know what would cause this if is is as serious as i think it is and what could occur because of this condition

[kenkeith]

I am providing a link to a forum that have members who have experience with their child and the medical conditions, treatment, success, etc. If my child had a medical problem that would be my choice for information. A perspective from someone who has experience can be very helpful.

http://www.medhelp.org/forums/Pediatric-Cardiology/show/302

[czphbmaw]

My grandson was having a hard time breathing sunday night so my daughter took him to the Dr just expecting to hear it was his asthma, but he also told her that the xray showed his heart was slightly enlarged, so she called his peditrician the next day and they ordered an EKG and this showed that the right atrium was enlarged and now we are waiting for the cardiologists report b4 the Dr will do anything else.  My daughter and i have been beside ourselves since we have heard this, so i thought i would see if i could learn more here.  thank you for responding.

[kenkeith]

Do you know if your grandson's heart is structually normal? First thought, there can be a hole in the septum (wall that separates right and left atrium)  Statistics show about 40% of atrial septal defects will close by themselves before the child is 2 years old. After that time, natural closure is rare, so surgery is usually recommended in serious cases (when the right side of the heart is enlarged). The reason for the enlargement is due to larger volume of blood for the right side when there is leakage from the left to the right side rather than pumped into circulation.

Successful intervention is about 99% of cases to close the hole. If surgery is done in childhood, the enlarged heart will return to its normal size in 4 to 6 months.

Best wishes for your grandson, and if you have any further questions or comments you are welcome to respond.  Take care,

Ken

[czphbmaw]

My 23 month old grandson has been diagnosed with an enlarged right atrium.  He had a chest xray and an EKG and the EKG is what showed the enlargement.  The exray just showed his heart was enlarged.  This is all the information we have, does anyone know what may be causing this and what the treatment is.

[kenkeith]

If your son's enlarged atrium is serious your doctor should find the underlying cause .  If the dimension of the atrium was shown by an echocardiogram, it is an estimate.  An EKG output requries further evidence and not very reliable.  If the enlargement viewed from chest X-rays, there could be an artifact involved providing a false impression. Or the reference range for normality of atrium size may not pertain to your son because the dimension is normal for your son.

Worst case scenarios.  There could be a congenital heart valve defect or a hole in the wall that separates the upper chamber.

"A hole in the wall (septum) that separates the two upper chambers (atria) of the heart. An atrial septal defect (ASD), or "hole in the heart," allows blood to flow from one atrium to the other, usually from the left side to the right side. This causes extra blood flow in the right atrium, in the right ventricle, and to the lungs"

The probability is slight for anything serious unless there are symptoms such as unusual shortness of breath, fatgue, chest pains, etc.  Many individuals go through life with a slightly enlarged atrium without any progression or limitations, but serious conditions should be ruled out.   Hope this helps

[ed34]

Do you have any other information to offer on this? such as tests which have been run and possibly the results? What exactly did the cardiologists say to you or your GP?
To be honest, I think it would be wrong for anyone to comment on this without more information because there are a variety of possible reasons, some not serious and some very serious. So, it wouldn't be fair to worry you unnecessarily. Also, what symptoms does your child have?
Any further information no matter how small could help with the right line of thought.
Did the Doctors say it's a slightly enlarged atrium, or very enlarged? or did they just say enlarged?  I'm sorry for so many questions but this is difficult without some extra information.