What is heart enlargement; how is it treated?

What is heart enlargement; how is it treated?

The normal healthy heart usually will be the size of a closed fist. Sometimes various factors like infections, malfunctioning, inflammation etc. lead to enlargement of the size of the heart and this affects its functioning. There are three kinds of inflammation leading to the enlargement of the heart.

These are: 1. inflammation of the inner lining of the endocardium of the heart (endocarditis) 2. Inflammation of the myocardium of the heart (myocarditis), and 3. inflammation of the pericardium of the heart (pericarditis).

Endocarditis:

The inflammation or swelling of the endocardium of the heart leads to a condition known as endocarditis. Usually endocarditis in patients with heart problems is caused due to bacterial infection and is referred to as bacterial endocarditis. Risk of bacterial infection is high among patients with valve diseases such as mitral valve disease, aortic valve dis­ease etc.

Bacterial infection is usually caused by Streptococcus viridans, Enterocci, Pneumococci etc. In some drug addicts endocarditis is caused by yeast and fungal infection also after a cardiac surgery.

Myocarditis:

Also called cardiomyopathy in this there is deranged func­tion of myocardium. Cardiomyopahty is of three kinds- congestive cardiomyopathy, hypertropic cardiomyopathy and restrictive cardiomyopathy. In congestive cardiomyopathy the myocardium becomes fibrous and lacks the contractile power.

Hence heart is dialated. Hypertropic cardiomyopathy is hereditary generally. Septum is hypertrophied and may cause obstruction of left ventricular flow. In restrictive cardiomyophaty the diastolic function is deranged but systolic function is normal. The rigid myocardium restricts diastolic filling of the blood. Restrictive myocardiopahty is mostly caused by fibrosis.

Pericarditis:

This is an inflammation of pericardium and is caused by a variety of causes such as viral and bacterial infections, neoplastic dis­eases, myocaridal infraction and metabolic autoimmune disordes. The pericardium in inflamed conditions becomes thick and sticky resulting in pain. Often a fluid accumulates between the two layers of the pericar­dium.

Treatment:

Treatment of enlarged heart condition depends on the diag­nosis and the type of infection that causes heart enlargement. Treatment includes prescribing temporarily pain relievers and treatment with spe­cific antibiotics depending on the type of infection. Antibiotics like pencillin, streptomycin or gentamycin are useful.