Can an enlarged heart be made normal again

[goldenage]

My blood pressure, until last year, was always around 90/60; last year it shot up to 234/198 and I had a three hour nose bleed that was stopped with a coagulate med shot when I was rushed to the hospital. From that point on it fluctuated for a month in the 119/90 area ... until I found a good hypertension Doctor who, after dozens of tests, got it under control with norvasc; it still runs around 140/76, so I have just now had the 5 mg increased to 10mg. I have had atrial Fib, ventrical tachicardia and mitral valve prolaspe for 35 years but was not caught until 10 years later; in the past 15 years it has been under control with atenolol and no more episodes for the past 7 years, just a slight amount of arrythmia once in a while. I, also, have just a very slight irregularity in my atrial heart valve.  4 yrs ago I had tremendous water retension and swelling of my leg after a hip replacement and gained 10 lbs over night. They thought I had heart failure but yearly echos have confirmed that I do not; the echos in 2008 showed I had a slight amount of atrial enlargement, Now, the echo I had yesterday shows my right and left atrial chambers are severly enlarged. I have had some angina pain but I think it is mostly from stress, since I had angina pain yesterday after I was told my heart was now severly enlarged. My weight is very normal, I have no shortness of breath, my endurance is quite good; however, I had to give up my walking 5 miles aday after my hip replacement. I have cooked only mediterranian diet food for 20 years. Is it possible that my blood pressure, even though not really high is causing the enlarged heart?  Is it alot more dangerous to have an enlarged heart? Does the enlarged heart mean that I now will have more atrial fib, or other heart problems? Is it possible for me to get my heart size back to normal size and if so, how?  What other tests can I take that will give me a guide line on the best things I can do for myself to maintain good heart health inspite of a few heart problems.  My mother and father both died with heart problems.

[Texasdan]

My mother has a severely enlarged heart, which stopped on her last year and she almost passed away, but they were able to get her back and the cardiologist told me and my family that all of her kids needed to be tested as well as her grandchildren because the medical profession does believe that it is hereditary.  I held off doing anything until several months later when I myself had my blood pressure spike high enough that my wife had to call the paramedics, they came and got me to relax and get my blood pressure down and had me go see my doctor, who ordered a stress test.  He called my later and told me that I failed the test and wanted me to see a cardiologist I did and she did and Echo and a Heart Cath, come to find out she said that I had a mildly enlarged heart, but with some exercise and proper diet I should be fine, infact my heart would be stronger than before.  So I would highly recommend getting your son tested just to make sure for peace of mind.

[Jerry_NJ]

No I have almost no sense of my heart, even the irregular part is not noticable to me unless I listen with a stethoscope

To, my heart has only an enlarged left atrium (causing all the AFib it seems) and that is maybe 20% over the general accepted upper limit.  I don't have the numbers handy but I think the upper limit for the diameter is 4 mm (or is it cm?) and mine is 5 whatever.

I will have the results of today's echo in a few days and will look with specific interest on the size of the left atrium.  Of course, I am also watching for any signs of failure on the mitral valve repair, the reason I have a periodic (every 3 years) echo (Medicare limited to 3 year intervals).

The fact I was 67 when the valve repair took place means my heart was already old when it was given a chance to shrink back to normal pressure size.  My surgeon said there was a chance, even at my age.  In any case, I still have AFib, so if it has shrunk any it has not stopped the AFib, but a shrinkage may encourage another attempt with an electrocardioversion.  Hope I haven't gone too far off subject.  

[Mom2four85]

mine didn't go back to what was considered normal for me either; but I have read others in the heart disease community that says theirs did with treatment...

sometimes mine gets so enlarged from heart failure I can feel it against my rib cage (like the past 3 days) especially if I do anything physically exerting; do you notice anything like that?

[Jerry_NJ]

I refer you back to my post earlier in the life of this thread.  To this I add that my heart in fact did not shrink back much, the measurements were made using an echocardiogram and it is a great non-invasive tool to "see" the heart, it size and valve operations, but the measurements are not real accurate, can vary even if the same technician does the work.  That said, I'm talking here about errors in the 5% or so range.  Serious enlargement of the heart would always be detected, I believe.

The other good news is the cost of an echocardiogarm is not extremely expensive, so can be affordable even if one doesn't have insurance.  My experience is it cost like a car repair.   I am having an echo tomorrow to check on the mitral valve repair done in 2007.  I am a senior, and Medicare does cover this procedure but only every 3 years when done for preventive reasons.

[Mom2four85]

I found out quite by accident my heart was enlarged; I went in for an Xray of my spine and they found Cardiomegaly but dismissed it since I was not there for cardiac reasons.

The dr's I've spoken to since then have told me that depending on what caused it (mine was due to Obstructive Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy) that it could have a genetic predisposition and should always be addressed by a Cardiologist or Electrophysiologist depending on the syptoms etc.

from my understanding the enlargement can go back to normal with treatment; so it's best to rule out certain things with a dr  

[TXL]

my partner passed away suddenly after which was discovered an undetected condtion of an enlarged heart, 3 x the size of a reguler functioning heart, No warnings, No illness,  aged 41. We have a very fit, football & sport loving son. Is it possible that this condtion could be heriditary? any advice/informtion greatly welcomed.
kind regards,
Very devastated/worried Mummy

[DeeMonga]

Heart disease is hereditary, and it is not prejudice to age when it first shows up. I am also a victim, I can't count back the generations that were also victims. I recommend my entire family being checked and Continue to follow up every year of being checked. I started getting sick 6 years before being diagnosed. I was also under a doctor's care that I saw Every single month for medicine review and illness as arose. They were not specifically looking for a heart condition, so it was overlooked and missed, even though I had symptoms that were of a huge concern that was treated for something else. Be heart healthy and aware!!

[Jerry_NJ]

I suffered from an leaky mitral valve for a number of years - maybe all my life - and it eventually caused my left atrium to enlarge to a critical degree. This was treated with open heart surgery to repair the mitral valve.  This was done in 2007 at the senior age of 67.  The surgeon forecast that the reduction in pressure in the left atrium due to a proper operation of the mitral valve would allow the heart to shrink back toward normal... not all the way (remember my age) but much better.  This has happened and I am now planning to try another electrocardioversion to treat my AFig.  

There are other causes of an enlarged heart, I believe high blood pressure can cause enlargement of all chambers.  

My point?  Yes, there are treatments for at least some causes of an enlarged heart that will help the heart return to a more normal size, at least not to continue to enlarge.  I'd guess a young person, say someone under 50 (that's young to me), would have a heart that is more able to shrink back to its normal size that would a heart of someone over 65.... just picking some numbers, I do not have any study numbers on age heart shrinkage.

[itdood]

p.s., I missed your echo reports.  But I'm still wondering what your LVEF is.  The atrial enlargement is probably due to leaky valves, the enlargement probably lead to the a-fib.

[itdood]

Who told you your heart is enlarged and how did they determine it?  What is your left ventricular ejection fraction?  Have you been given a treatment regimen to address the situation by whoever found this out?