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Explain a Left Atrial Heart Enlargement Diagnosis
An enlarged left atrium means that the left upper chamber of the heart is working harder than it should, causing it to get larger than normal. The enlargement may be due to high blood pressure, a faulty heart valve, aging or obesity. In the process, the atrium thickens to pump harder. Without treatment, it can cause serious complications.
If you are experiencing serious medical symptoms, seek emergency treatment immediately.
Causes
Any factor that contributes to high blood pressure taxes the heart and can enlarge the left atrium. These include:
- aging
- high blood pressure
- obesity
- diseases such as cardiomyopathy
- or a thickening of the aorta
- which is the large artery leaving the heart
Symptoms
How to Reverse a Heart Enlargement
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An individual with left atrial enlargement may get tired easily, especially when involved in physical activity, and experience shortness of breath, heart palpitations or have swollen ankles or feet 1. Other signs may include bouts of bronchitis or heavy coughing, sometimes with blood in the sputum.
Complications
This makes the atria less able to pump blood out of the heart. Blood can pool and clot in the atria. There is a risk that clots can break apart, flow through the blood vessels and block arteries leading to the brain, causing a stroke.
Diagnostic Options
Causes of Left Atrial Enlargement
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Chest X-rays and electrocardiography are used to pinpoint whether atrial enlargement is due to mitral valve disorders, a narrowing of the mitral valve or a buildup of pressure inside the heart.
Treatment
The specific treatment used depends on the cause of the enlargement. Mitral valves can be repaired or replaced, and drugs such as beta blockers and the calcium channel blocker verapamil cause the heart muscle to contract more gently. This allows the atria to fill more completely and flow between the heart’s chambers more easily. A cardioverter-defribrillator can be implanted in the body to help control atrial fibrillation. In severe cases, surgery or alcohol ablation can be performed to thin the walls of the heart and improve blood flow.
- The specific treatment used depends on the cause of the enlargement.
- In severe cases, surgery or alcohol ablation can be performed to thin the walls of the heart and improve blood flow.
Related Articles
References
- Medical News Today: Left Atrial Enlargement and Obesity
- Mayoclinic.com: Mitral Valve Stenosis
- Sabzi F. Huge left atrium accompanied by normally functioning prosthetic valve. J Tehran Heart Cent. 2015;10(1):53–57.
- Cuspidi C, Rescaldani M, Sala C. Prevalence of echocardiographic left-atrial enlargement in hypertension: a systematic review of recent clinical studies. Am J Hypertens. 2013;26(4):456-64. doi:10.1093/ajh/hpt001
- Tiwari S, Schirmer H, Jacobsen BK, et al. Association between diastolic dysfunction and future atrial fibrillation in the Tromsø Study from 1994 to 2010. Heart. 2015;101(16):1302-8. doi:10.1136/heartjnl-2015-307438
- Lu R, Ma N, Jiang Z, et al. Endothelin-1 is associated with dilatation of the left atrium and can be an independent predictor of atrial fibrillation after mitral valve surgery. Interact Cardiovasc Thorac Surg. 2018 Jan 1;26(1):66-70. doi:10.1093/icvts/ivx250
- Wozakowska-kapłon B. Changes in left atrial size in patients with persistent atrial fibrillation: a prospective echocardiographic study with a 5-year follow-up period. Int J Cardiol. 2005;101(1):47-52. doi:10.1016/j.ijcard.2004.03.010
- Pande S, Agarwal SK, Mohanty S, Bansal A. Effect of mitral valve replacement on reduction of left atrial size. Asian Cardiovasc Thorac Ann. 2013;21(3):288-92. doi:10.1177/0218492312453142
- Kühl JT, Nielsen JB, Stisen ZR, et al. Left ventricular hypertrophy identified by cardiac computed tomography and ECG in hypertensive individuals: a population-based study. J Hypertens. 2019;37(4):739-746. doi:10.1097/HJH.0000000000001962
- Cuspidi C, Rescaldani M, Sala C. Prevalence of echocardiographic left-atrial enlargement in hypertension: a systematic review of recent clinical studies. Am J Hypertens. 2013;26(4):456-64. doi:10.1093/ajh/hpt001
- Patel DA, Lavie CJ, Milani RV, Shah S, Gilliland Y. Clinical implications of left atrial enlargement: a review. Ochsner J. 2009;9(4):191-6. PMID:21603443
Writer Bio
Jeannette Hartman has been a writer 1984. Her work has appeared in the "Los Angeles Times" and on the websites of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation and WISE & Healthy Aging. Hartman earned a Bachelor of Science in journalism from the University of Kansas and a Master of Business Administration from Pepperdine University.