What is an Enlarged Heart? How Serious is the Condition?
About the disease and its seriousness:
Enlarged heart, also known as cardiomegaly, is not a disease but rather an outcome of some other pertaining medical condition.
Cardiomegaly is a serious issue and should not be taken lightly. it is usually the indication of a serious heart problem.
The problem is usually detected with the help of a chest X-ray and can be easily treated by targeting its root cause.
Dr. Samin K Sharma, who happens to be one of the best cardiac surgeons in India, specialises in treating a variety of heart conditions including cardiomegaly.
The problem is mostly temporary and triggered by excessive stress on your body as in case of pregnancy and due to medical conditions like coronary artery disease, stenosis, arrhythmia etc, which can lead to the thickening of the heart muscles or dialation of one of the four chambers of the heart.
Symptoms:
The symptoms of cardiomegaly vary from person to person and some patients don't experience any symptom at all.
Some of the most common symptoms associated with cardiomegaly include breathlessness, arrhythmia and edema.
Chest Pain is a very common symptom. Apart from this insets of pain may also be experienced in the upper limbs, neck, back, jaw or abdomen.
In the case of chronic cardiomegaly, the patient may feel dizzy and even faint.
In case you experience any of these, it is advisable to consult a doctor immediately and get yourself checked for proper treatment.
Sometimes these symptoms might also be an indication of a heart attack.
What triggers the problem?
As mentioned earlier, cardiomegaly is not a disease but rather a symptom or outcome of a serious medical condition which makes it harder for your heart to pump blood, often resulting in muscle damage.
It may be a result of a congenital heart problem, i.e. one that is present since birth. This includes stenosis, arrhythmia, hole in the heart etc.
High blood pressure or hypertension may also be held responsible for it as increased blood pressure can put a lot of strain on your heart, making it difficult to pump blood at the normal pace. Hypertension can also lead to the enlargement of the atria.
Sometimes, conditions like rheumatic fever and infectious endocarditis can damage your heart valves thereby hindering the normal flow of blood through these. Heart valves can also get damaged by the use of certain medicines and undergoing radiation therapy.
Cardiomegaly may also be caused by the accumulation of abnormal proteins in the heart which prevent it from functioning properly. This is commonly known as amyloidosis.
Apart from these, there are several other medical conditions like cardiomyopathy, pulmonary hypertension, pericardial effusion, anaemia, hyperthyroidism, hemochromatosis.
All the above-mentioned conditions can pose a serious threat to the patient's life and the fact that these can lead to cardiomegaly clearly means that if you are detected with cardiomegaly, there is a possibility that you might be suffering from any of these. Hence the problem is very serious.
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