The heart is really in the center of the chest, and various large blood vessels leave and enter the heart from the top, bottom, and both sides.
A hernia picked up on an upper GI series could be a hiatal hernia. There are three types of hiatal hernias, and if this is causing the symptoms that could easily be fixed-- most likely with surgery though :<
Don't worry about offending me. I want to be wrong. I don't want you friend to be scared or have a problem for the sake of me being right. The doctors are going to focus on the heart valve for the same reason he is-- scary thing can happen when they go wrong. Ask alot of questions of your doctors.
Again, thank you for your continued responses to this. When this first started happening, he went to an ER and they admitted him into the hospital for testing. However, the hospital continually relayed wrong information to him and his cardiologist told him to get out of the hospital and redo all of the tests he took while he was there.
One of the tests was an upper GI and he got the results of that test yesterday. They found a hernia. Is it possible that could have something do with this?
Forgive me if I continue to question your expertise on the causes of this vibration, because I certainly do not think myself a medical expert. But, it is hard to comprehend that vibrations on the right side of the chest could be caused by an organ on the left side of the chest.
I will definitely keep you up to date on this and thank you for your quick responses and the time you are spending on this.
The symptoms that you posted are very worrisome for a problem with the valve possibly creating problems known as regurgitation or stenosis. This will be evident when they do an echocardiogram (ultrasound or sonar) of the heart. I would love to tell you that everything is going to be fine. Given the constant vibration you describe, it certainly makes me think of a cardiovascular problem. A respiratory problem would cycle with the phases of breathing, and a muscular problem like you suggest would not be limited to a single muscle of the right chest.
I know you really want to be there and comfort your friend. The best suggestion I can give is to be there for him and listen to him. Telling him what he wants to hear my not actually be what is best for him, especially if it enables him into a situation of denial. In that circumstance, denial might prevent him from having a correctable problem fixed. Its OK for both you and him to be afraid, these type of things are scary.
Tell your friend that you’re there for him. Ask him what he is afraid of? You bet he’s scared. You, your friend, and I all are fearing the same thing—a problem with the valve. Lets hope and pray we are wrong. If it is the valve, lets be optimistic that it something that was detected and likely fixable.
I hope this work out for the two of you and please keep us informed. Nothing would make me happier than being wrong in a case like this.
Dr. Guy, I appreciate your input. He is definitely going to keep his appointment, but is it not possible that this could be caused by someting other than a leaky valve or the heart altogether?
The purpose of me asking you is to forward onto him what are some other potential reasons for the vibrations besides his heart. What are the other potentital causes for vibrations in the right side of the chest?
Thank you again.
Keep that appointment. The heart valve is the first thing that needs to be evaluated.