I am a healthy, fit, and very active 47 year old woman--healthy lifestyle and diet, runner, and I ride my bike for transportation. Resting HR of 52. PACs started a few weeks ago, so got a Holtor which reported over 4000 PACs/24 hours (that was half of what they had been previously), sleeping HR went as low as 41. Had an echocardiogram the other day, and everything was normal, except: "severely increased left atrial volume." Mysteriously, left atrial *size* (i.e., diameter) was normal. My appointment with the cardio doc is not for over a week, and in the meantime, my PACs have returned after a run (I took a break from running and PACs had subsided) and I'm quite concerned about this apparent result. I have examined the scientific literature and it seems that severely increased volume is indeed concerning and predicts all kinds of dire events. However, I came across no reports of increased volume without increased diameter, so the results are confusing.
The cardiologist I will see took a quick look at the results at the request of my doctor, and he said that since everything else was normal, the "severely increased LA volume" was "likely a mistake." But I sit here with my four year old, feeling these intense PACs, worried that it is, in fact, not a mistake and I have some worrisome condition.
Question: does anyone know if it is possible to have a severely increased left atrial volume with normal left atrial "size," i.e., diameter? Can this have anything to do with "athlete's heart"? I only run about 12-15 miles a week and don't bike more than a few miles a day, so I don't think I'm so well trained as to have athlete's heart (as far as I can tell). I assume that many of you feel as I do--in the dark, with disturbing chest sensations, and scared of some sort of sudden death or stroke that will leave me unlike the woman I am now.
Thank you!