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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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I Want A Good Diet Or Exercise For A Heart Patient

I m a 29 yeor old female, had pericarditis 3 years ago (probably after a dental treatment). It was resolved by taking Ibuprofen. At that time my ECG was normal. Since then I still have similair pain, which comes an goes, usually only lasts a couple of minutes to an hour (just take Ibuprofen if it persists). I had another ECG done a couple of weeks ago, which showed consider right atrial enlargement . My blood pressure is normal (often 110/70 per the Target machine), not on any meds, not under stress, don t smoke or drink (never did either of them), BMI 19-20, normal cholesterol, try to eat healthy, no heart murmur. I have an echo scheduled for next week. What can I expect? What s the treatment, long time effect, can it get worst or develop something serious? Diet , excercise to prevent further damage? Any other recommendations?
Sun, 20 Dec 2009
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Wow! You sound great! Can you cook? :) Seriously, ECG suggesting RA enlargement is not necessarily a significant finding. The ECHO will tell you better. This is an ultrasound of the heart - like when they do an ultrasound for a baby only they do it on your chest to look at your heart. They bounce sound waves off it and analyze it and make a picture - only the picture is in real time and watches the heart move! They can see if you have fluid around the heart They can see if any part of the heart is bigger than it usually is (smaller isn't often a problem except if your valves are tight or leaky) Sounds like you get recurrence of your pericarditis from time to time and it sounds like you are managing it well. Your ECHO may well be normal, in which case breathe easy. Just take your ibuprofen from time to time. If your ECHO shows RA enlargement, high right sided pressures etc. (or any other significant abnormality) then your cardiologist should swing into action to identify the cause of all this and treat it. This could lead literally anywhere (as I don't know your ECHO result) so I'm not going to venture anything more. Good luck! I'm sure you'll be fine!
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I Want A Good Diet Or Exercise For A Heart Patient

Wow! You sound great! Can you cook? :) Seriously, ECG suggesting RA enlargement is not necessarily a significant finding. The ECHO will tell you better. This is an ultrasound of the heart - like when they do an ultrasound for a baby only they do it on your chest to look at your heart. They bounce sound waves off it and analyze it and make a picture - only the picture is in real time and watches the heart move! They can see if you have fluid around the heart They can see if any part of the heart is bigger than it usually is (smaller isn t often a problem except if your valves are tight or leaky) Sounds like you get recurrence of your pericarditis from time to time and it sounds like you are managing it well. Your ECHO may well be normal, in which case breathe easy. Just take your ibuprofen from time to time. If your ECHO shows RA enlargement, high right sided pressures etc. (or any other significant abnormality) then your cardiologist should swing into action to identify the cause of all this and treat it. This could lead literally anywhere (as I don t know your ECHO result) so I m not going to venture anything more. Good luck! I m sure you ll be fine!