enlarged heart

if it increases O2 transport than no but if it decreases it than yes.

Not necessarily - my Mum had an enlarged heart for years - usually means it's having to work harder to pump the blood but my Mum had no bad effects, she died at 92!!! Check with your doc to be sure what the situation is with yours. All the best. 

Not always. Mostly it's a symptom of heart failure but not everyone with CHF has an enlarged heart nor is every enlarged heart CHF!! Mostly it is but:

The most common causes of an enlarged heart are blockages in the heart's blood supply (coronary artery disease) and high blood pressure. An enlarged heart can have many other causes, including:

Viral infection of the heart

Abnormal heart valve

Pregnancy, with enlarged heart developing around the time of delivery (peripartum cardiomyopathy)

Kidney disease requiring dialysis

Alcohol or cocaine abuse

HIV infection

Genetic and inherited conditions

For example, if a heart valve problem can be treated the condition may not become worse (where Congestive heart failure does). The results of more detailed tests will reveal all. I had a minor enlrgement detected on a X Ray after being very ill. I had had a terrible reaction to a medication and a year later the Radiologist confirmed normal heart size! I've kept the report!

Frequently, no cause for an enlarged heart is identified. This is known as idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy.

Symptoms of an Enlarged Heart

Most often, an enlarged heart causes no symptoms. If an enlarged heart becomes unable to pump blood effectively, symptoms of congestive heart failure can develop:

Shortness of breath (especially with exertion or when lying flat)

Leg swelling

Increased abdominal girth

Weight gain

Fatigue

Palpitations or skipped heartbeats

Symptoms vary widely in people with an enlarged heart. Some may never have symptoms. Others may have mild symptoms that remain unchanged for years. And some may experience steadily worsening shortness of breath.

Best wishes,

 

Hyperplasia = increase in the number of cells

Hypertrophy = increase in the size of cells

I think these are usually due to the Heart failure itself as the heart cells either increase in number or increase in size in order to meet demand?

Hi Dominique,

That depents of the severity of your symptoms.

There is a classification system acc to the NYHA. Just google it!

Hyperplasia and hypertrophy are dscriptions of enlargement. One is caused by increased numbers of cells - the other by increase in cell size.

This can happen in athletes due to serious training - but we are talking about high performance individuals eg riders in the Tour de France for example.

If you are not a serious athlete, then, it is much more likely to be due to the fact that the heart has become enlarged because it is being asked to do more work than it is able.