Cardiomegaly


Cardiomegaly is a medical condition in which the heart is enlarged. It is more commonly referred to as an enlarged heart. Other common names for cardiomegaly is megacardia or megalocardia, all referring to the same thing. The causes of cardiomegaly vary from patient to patient, depending on each case. Many times this condition results from high blood pressure or coronary artery disease. An enlarged heart may not pump blood effectively, resulting in congestive heart failure. Cardiomegaly may improve over time, but many people with an enlarged heart need lifelong treatment with medications. Having an immediate family member who has or had cardiomegaly may indicate that a person is more susceptible to getting this condition. Cardiomegaly is not a disease but rather a condition that can result from a host of other diseases such as obesity or coronary artery disease. Recent studies suggest that cardiomegaly is associated with a higher risk of sudden cardiac death. Cardiomegaly can be serious even though it is not an actual disease. Depending on what part of the heart is enlarged, the patient can suffer from heart failure. Anyone can experience a heart enlargement, but not everyone will be diagnosed immediately, based on the signs and symptoms. Cardiomegaly leads to clinical heart failure and in the United States nearly 5.8 million people suffer. Heart failures increase with age, more common in males, and African Americans. According to research conducted in June 2019, half of the people diagnosed with heart failure die within 5 years of being diagnosed. Cardiomyopathy is also associated with cardiomegaly, and it is a disease of the heart muscle, which makes it difficult for the heart to pump blood to the rest of the body. Cardiomyopathy can lead to heart failure. There are three main types of cardiomyopathy: hypertrophic, dilated, and restrictive. The difference is that cardiomegaly is a condition of the heart and cardiomyopathy is an actual disease.

Signs and symptoms

For many people, cardiomegaly is asymptomatic. For others, if the enlarged heart begins to affect the body's ability to pump blood effectively, then symptoms associated with congestive heart failure may arise, including:
There is not much variation in these symptoms because they are mostly specific to the chest area. However, some are more common than others depending on each patient.

Causes and Prevention

The causes of cardiomegaly are not well understood and many cases of cardiomegaly are idiopathic. Prevention of cardiomegaly starts with detection. If a person has a family history of cardiomegaly, one should let one's doctor know so that treatments can be implemented to help prevent the worsening of the condition. In addition, prevention includes avoiding certain lifestyle risk factors such as tobacco use and controlling one's high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Non-lifestyle risk factors include a family history of cardiomegaly, coronary artery disease, congenital heart failure, Atherosclerotic disease, valvular heart disease, exposure to cardiac toxins, sleep-disordered breathing, sustained cardiac arrhythmias, abnormal electrocardiograms, and cardiomegaly on chest X-ray. Lifestyle factors which can help prevent cardiomegaly include eating a healthy diet, controlling blood pressure, exercise, medications, and not abusing alcohol and cocaine. Current research and the evidence of previous cases link the following as possible causes of cardiomegaly.
The most common causes of cardiomegaly are congenital, high blood pressure which can enlarge the left ventricle causing the heart muscle to weaken over time, and coronary artery disease that creates blockages in the heart's blood supply, which can bring on a cardiac infarction leading to tissue death which causes other areas of the heart to work harder, increasing the heart's size.
Other possible causes include:
Cardiomegaly is a condition affecting the cardiovascular system, specifically the heart. This condition is strongly associated with congestive heart failure. Within the heart, the working fibers of the myocardial tissue increase in size. As the heart works harder the actin and myosin filaments experience less overlap which increases the size of the myocardial fibers. If there is less overlap of the protein filaments actin and myosin within the sarcomeres of muscle fibers, they will not be able to effectively pull on one another. If the heart tissue gets too big and stretches too far, then those filaments cannot effectively pull on one another to shorten the muscle fibers, thus impacting the heart's sliding filament mechanism. If fibers cannot shorten properly, and the heart cannot contract properly, then blood cannot be effectively pumped to the lungs to be re-oxygenated and to the body to deliver oxygen to the working tissues of the body.
Person with an enlarged heart is more susceptible to forming blood clots in the lining of their heart. These clots can also be formed in other parts of the body. Once they enter the bloodstream, it makes it difficult for the organs in the body to receive blood, due to the blockage caused by the clots. This can impact other body systems as well and lead to other problems.

Diagnosis

There are many techniques and tests used to diagnose an enlarged heart. The results of these tests can often be used to see how efficiently the heart is pumping, determine which chambers of the heart are enlarged, look for evidence of previous heart attacks and determine if a person has congenital heart disease.
Risk factors for cardiomegaly include a family history of heart disease, diabetes, obesity, hypertension, history of alcohol or drug abuse, the lifestyle that consists of little or no exercise.
Cardiomegaly can be classified by the main enlarged location of the heart, and/or by the structure of the enlargement.
There are also specific additional subtypes. For example, the athletic heart syndrome is a non-pathological condition commonly seen in sports medicine in which the human heart is enlarged, and the resting heart rate is lower than normal.

By enlarged location

is the most common type of cardiomegaly. In this condition, the walls of the left and/or right ventricles of the heart become thin and stretched. The result is an enlarged heart.
In the other types of cardiomegaly, the heart's large muscular left ventricle becomes abnormally thick. Hypertrophy is usually what causes left ventricular enlargement. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is typically an inherited condition.

Treatment and prognosis

Treatments for cardiomegaly include a combination of medication treatment and medical/surgical procedures. Below are some of the treatment options for individuals with cardiomegaly:
Medications
Medical devises to regulate the heartbeat
Surgical procedures
Cardiomegaly can progress and certain complications are common:
At home remedies