Enlarged Heart, Heart Valve Disease & Cardiomyopathy
October 30th, 2007I’ll never forget when my cardiologist confirmed my preconceived notion about my diseased heart valve.
“Adam,” Dr. Bad Bedside Manner said, “You have severe aortic stenosis AND regurgitation. It’s not good.”
“Oh no,” I thought to myself as I shook my head side-to-side in disbelief.
“And,” Dr. Bad Bedside Manner continued, “Your heart is dilated. That means you need to move quickly. You’re not going to die tomorrow but I wouldn’t wait more than a few months to take care of this. You need open heart surgery.”
Quite a way to start your Thursday morning, right? 
For those of you who are not familiar with an enlarged heart, this blog is for you…
An enlarged heart is clinically referred to as dilated cardiomyopathy. An enlarged heart is the most common form of heart muscle disease. Although it is found most often in middle-aged people and more often in men than in women, this condition has been diagnosed in people of all ages, including children.
Also called “congestive cardiomyopathy,” dilated cardiomyopathy damages the muscle tissue that makes up the heart’s pumping chambers. If the chamber walls become weak enough, the heart can no longer perform its normal pumping action.
At first, your body’s functions will remain near normal. Other parts of the body will try to make up for the heart’s decreased pumping power by increasing the amount of fluid they hold—and by making more blood than usual. The heart chambers then expand (dilate) to make room for this greater blood volume. This expansion can initially restore some of the heart’s pumping strength because the more a muscle is stretched, the more forcefully it can contract.
The long-term effects of an enlarged heart are not good. Your heart will try to increase its rate to pump more blood through your body. And, when the heart cannot contract as well, it will affect your circulation and cause excess body fluid to build up in your lungs, the area above your stomach (abdomen), and your legs. This fluid buildup makes breathing difficult and causes swelling (called edema). These are two common symptoms of heart failure.
An enlarged heart sometimes leads to abnormal heart rhythms (called arrhythmias). Also, blood flows more slowly through an enlarged heart, so blood clots may easily form. These clots can break free and enter the circulation, ending up in the lungs (called a pulmonary emboli) or blocking a vessel in the brain or heart.
Heart valve disease can also lead to an enlarged heart as the heart is forced to “work overtime” to compensate for common valvular disorders including stenosis, regurgitation and/or prolapse (e.g. mitral valve prolapse).
You should know that it is now 22 months since my surgery. I am feeling great and my heart is back to normal size following my double valve replacement.
I hope this helps you better understand an enlarged heart and valve disease.
Keep on tickin!
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| About The Author: Adam Pick is a double, heart valve surgery patient and author of The Patient's Guide To Heart Valve Surgery. This unique book integrates clinical research with the personal experiences of 135 former patients to help future patients and their caregivers better understand the problems, the opportunities and the realities of heart valve surgery. To learn more about Adam and his heart valve surgery book, click here. |
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