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Doctor insights on: Baby Born With Enlarged Heart

Need to know cause: An "enlarged" heart is not always a problem. As others have answered, athletes have "enlarged" hearts. On the other hand, all sorts of heart conditions can lead to an enlarged heart; some may be relatively minor while others are life-threatening. Please discuss this issue with a pediatrician/pediatric cardiologist as the answer depends on the specific cause. ...Read more

Enlarged heart: Your friend needs to be followed by a cardiologist, they need to be on medications to reduce the afterload on the heart and delay it getting larger. It may still happen with time as the muscles get weaker, but the cardiologist can discuss all options with them. ...Read more

HCMP: This is probably hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. It's fairly common and the clinical-pathological picture is widely variable. Some people will have no problems, some will need surgery, some will have medical management. It's actually the top of the cardiac septum that tends to overgrow the most, and this is the main problem most of the time. ...Read more

Depends: Cardiomegaly isn't a diagnosis. It can be caused by a broad range of things, like birth defects, problems with transition from the fetal circulation, heart rhythm problems, fetal medication exposure or intrauterine infection. Longterm outcomes with respect to symptoms, life expectancy and any need for treatment, intervention or activity restrictions all depend on the specific heart condition. ...Read more

Doubtful: Bendectin, now called Diclegis (doxylamine succinate + pyridoxine hydrochloride)

there is apparently no connection between this medication and midline defects and the fda has recently approved it as safe for use in pregnant women.

www. Nytimes. Com/2013/04/09/us/morning-sickness-drug-returns. Html? Partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=1&

anyway, although it was a long time ago, I'm really sorry for your loss. ...Read more

Relax.: Let the pediatric cardiologists evaluate your newborn's heart with echo before freaking out; a large heart may be nothing but a variation of normal. ...Read more

Contradictory: If the baby's heart is significantly enlarged, then the formation of the heart isn't entirely normal. Perhaps her OB means that, while the baby's heart is enlarged, the structure is otherwise normal. The question of concern should be addressed with your daughter-in-law's obstetrician. Serial sonograms may be indicated to follow the development of the baby's heart. ...Read more

Hard to say: You need to discuss this with a cardiologist experienced with pregnancy issues as well as a high risk obstetrician. Your answer is likely to be highly individualized. ...Read more

Possibly: Depending on the cause and severity. See your doctor or cardiologist for further evaluation. ...Read more

Possibly: Depending on the cause and severity. See your doctor or cardiologist for further evaluation. ...Read more

Hypertension: Hypertensiom is most common cause but there are many others. An echocardiogram & cardiology consultation should be undertaken. ...Read more

Depends: An enlarged heart detected on cxr could be entirely asymptomatic. The most common cause is a thickened heart muscle due to hypertension. Rarer is a cardiomyopathy or a weakened heart. Those could be associated with signs and symptoms of congestive heart failure, namely shortness of breath, fatigue, dizziness, swelling in legs. ...Read more

Probably not: Heart size can be over-estimated by imaging such as x-ray. Echocardiography & MRI are the best methods. Enlarged heart is reported based on values from normal individuals. Depending on the size of the person or in athletic individuals, slightly enlarged heart may be normal. Symptoms, other echo findings & coexisting conditions determine importance of this finding. Discuss with doctor. ...Read more

Yes: Chemo therapeutic drugs like doxorubicin. Cyclophosphamide, antiarrhythmic drugs, beta blockers for hypertension, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, anesthetics like old halothane, anti depressives, and few others. The above categories of drugs can potentially induced or exacerbate chf. ...Read more

You wouldn't expect: But it can! (rarely)
Extraordinary stress (I've seen it once when someone was lied to that their child was killed) can cause immediate (temporary!)
heart failure.
http://www. Ncbi. Nlm. Nih. Gov/pubmed/19039766
also,
Cocaine OD
Fluid overload...but. ..it's got to be a lot.
Oh, and blown out ventricle... like a bad tire wall...this can happen as a rare complication of a heart attack.
...Read more

Not uncommon: An enlarged heart is usually related to heart failure. It it seen in patients with high blood pressure, and some types of leaky valves. It is rarely a normal variant. ...Read more

Enlarged heart: An abnormally enlarged heart is called a dilated cardiomyopathy. Symptoms are typically those of heart failure, such as shortness of breath, fatigue, weakness, fluid retention, and sometimes chest pain or palpitations. You should see (and be followed by) a cardiologist, if you have an abnormally enlarged heart. ...Read more

Congestive HF: Congestive heart failure would be consequence to be avoided. Get an echocardiogram & see a cardiologist if this is a concern. ...Read more

Depends: Enlarged heart can mean many different thinks: uncontrolled hypertension, prio heart attack, alcohol toxicity, heart failure, certain viral infections. So symptoms or lock of symptoms depend on etiology and severety of the "enlarged heart". Medically called: cardiomegaly, lvh, cardiomyopathy. ...Read more

Depends on cause.: You may not feel anything other than excercise intolerance, shortness of breath on excertion when the ejection fraction is low or the pulmonary artery pressures are high. Your heart may be enlarged on echocardiography because of cardiomyopathy. That is not a good finding with or without symptoms. In many occations symptoms occur too late. ...Read more

Enlarged: The heart is larger than normal, typically greater that 5.7 cm internally during filling phase. A thickened heart muscle (hypertrophy) of greater Than 1.1 cm may give the appearance of an enlarged heart on an x-ray ...Read more

Yes: There is studies showing that depending on the cause some hypertrophic heart disease or enlarged heart can regress if cause is corrected such as stop drinking, treat blood pressure, stop using Cocaine or treat thyroid problems and irregular heart rhythms such tachycardia. ...Read more

Enlarged heart: In general an 'enlarged heart' implies something is wrong with the heart. This can be because of genetics, infection, high blood pressure, valve disease, ischemic heart disease, poisons, etc. It is certainly possible to die from an enlarged heart depending on the cause and the severity of the abnormalities. ...Read more

Yes: Competitive athlete's typically get a particular type of heart enlargement called "athlete's heart." it is usually a benign adaptation to the athletic endeavors, and typically reverts to normal with either age or cessation of competitive activity. ...Read more

DOE: Breathlessness with walking and easy fatigueability are the commonest symptoms. Depending on the severity, there may be other symptoms as well. ...Read more

CHF: The cause of the enlarged heart and pleural effusion is what dictates the outcome from such a situation. If you have a very weak heart with congestive heart failure and both sides of the heart malfunctioning to cause this, that is very serious. If you have some more benign situation which is also possible could be less serious. You need to discuss with your doctor. ...Read more

Many things: Any disorder that results in impaired pumping capacity of the heart (reduced ejection fraction) or end-diastolic volume overload (such as mitral or aortic insufficiency) can result in left ventricular enlargement. Cardiac enlargement can also follow enlargement of other chambers - for other reasons, too numerous to list here. ...Read more

Not usually: Once the process starts, an ongoing phenomenon called "remodeling" tends to keep things going in the wrong direction. Good medical therapy can often (but not always) halt or sometimes even reverse this process. ...Read more

Enlarged heart: An abnormally enlarged heart is called a dilated cardiomyopathy. Symptoms are typically those of heart failure, such as shortness of breath, fatigue, weakness, fluid retention, and sometimes chest pain or palpitations. You should see (and be followed by) a cardiologist, if you have an abnormally enlarged heart. ...Read more

CHF: The cause of the enlarged heart is what dictates the outcome from such a situation. If you have a very weak heart with congestive heart failure and both sides of the heart malfunctioning to cause this, that is very serious. If you have some more benign situation which is also possible could be less serious. You need to discuss with your doctor. ...Read more