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Dr. Andrew Rynne
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Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Enlarged Heart What Does This Mean?

My friend's dad has an enlarged heart. What does this mean? How bad is it? My friend's dad has an enlarged heart. What does this mean? How bad is it?
Mon, 14 Dec 2009
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An enlarged heart (Cardiomegaly) comes from the heart having to pump harder in order to deliver blood to the rest of the body. Since the heart is a muscle it can enlarge like any of the body's other muscles that are subjected to an increased work load. How bad it is depends on a lot of different things: are there any other preexisting cardiac conditions or vascular conditions? Its not always something that is necessarily bad or life threatening; it can be benign. Doctor will have to run tests and labs to determine things like how much blood is actually being pumped out of the heart, etc.

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Enlarged Heart What Does This Mean?

An enlarged heart (Cardiomegaly) comes from the heart having to pump harder in order to deliver blood to the rest of the body. Since the heart is a muscle it can enlarge like any of the body s other muscles that are subjected to an increased work load. How bad it is depends on a lot of different things: are there any other preexisting cardiac conditions or vascular conditions? Its not always something that is necessarily bad or life threatening; it can be benign. Doctor will have to run tests and labs to determine things like how much blood is actually being pumped out of the heart, etc.