Enlarged Heart

[Tolley]

I went to Bangkok Pattaya Hospital yesterday taking advantage of their cheap heart check up option they had advertised.

I did all the tests and everthing came back normal except the x ray revealed a moderately enlarged heart. BP was 122/80 total cholesterol 153, pulse 55.

Should i be worried about this?

I have been doing heavy exercise for over 20 years playing squash and lifting weights and am 53 now.

Could this type of exercise have a bearing on my heart size and is it a potential problem?

The doctor didn't really make any recommendations of any kind.

[Sheryl]

Yes. Both mild enlargement of the heart and a slow heart rate ("sinus bradycardia, a resting rate of 40-60, which you have) occur in athletes and others who regulalry engage in strenuous exercise and neither is in iteself a reson for concern.

However it can be difficult to distinguish between the so-called "Athlete's heart", which is a benign condition, and

a rare condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. It is therefore recommended that athletes have both an EKG and an echocardiogram.

If both were already done in your case and normal then I think no reason for concern about the enlargement. I don't know which check-up you had as Bkk Pattaya offers 3 different "heart packages". Echo is included in 1 but not the other 2.

If you did not have an echo, odds are that it is the benign enlargement common in athletes and nothing more but to be completely on the safe side it would be advisable to get one.

[Tolley]

Hi Sheryl

Thanks for that info.

I suppose the reason i was thinking about it was that i had a girlfriend 10 years ago who was a nurse and she said that after i did extreme strenuous exercise i did have an abnormal heartbeat.

I had the one where they put things on your ankles and chest and then a machine prints something out. I think it is an ECG or something like that.

The doctor noted some irregularity with that along with the x ray which showed a moderately enlarged heart. He asked about shortness of breath and dizziness but i have never had those symptoms. He didn't recommend any follow up tests but was just checking to make sure that i have checked all the possibilities.

BTW They also did a test for colon cancer screening which i have never heard of. Is this a good test and in anyway a good substitute for a colonoscopy?

Edited July 22, 2010 by Tolley

[Sheryl]

Hi Sheryl

I had the one where they put things on your ankles and chest and then a machine prints something out. I think it is an ECG or something like that.

The doctor noted some irregularity with that along with the x ray which showed a moderately enlarged heart. He asked about shortness of breath and dizziness but i have never had those symptoms. He didn't recommend any follow up tests but was just checking to make sure that i have checked all the possibilities.

BTW They also did a test for colon cancer screening which i have never heard of. Is this a good test and in anyway a good substitute for a colonoscopy?

Unless you were al.so running on a treadmill at the same time, all you had was a simple EKG. Sounds like you had just a simple check up (and a low end one at that) and not one of the heart specific packages. It also sounds like the quality of the review of the results was sub-standard which I'm afraid does not surprise me.

The abnormal rhythm raises the level of concern re the heart enlargement, although it too could be benign. You need a stress test and an echocardiogram and I suggest you get your Xray (actual film, not just the report) and EKG from the hospital and consult a western trained and board certified cardiologist in Bangkok. If you do a search for "cardiologist" on this forum you'll find specific ones recommended...none of which are in Pattaya.

re the "colon cancer test" it was CEA (a blood test), not suitable as a screening tool, see http://www.tc-cancer.com/tumormarkers.html.

If it was a stool exam for occult blood and if you are under say age 50 without a family history of colon cancer, then it is a reasonable and low cost way of checking to see if colonoscopy is indicated.

[huawei]

Hi

When looking at the health check program at bangkok hospital they offer the following options:

Echo Stress Test

Echocardiography

Investigation of coronary artery and calcium score with 256-Slice CT Scan

Investigation of heart function and coronary artery with Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

My question is what is the difference between a 256-slice CT Scan and an MRI? Is it neccesary to have both? or when should you consider both?

Thanks

[Tolley]

Thanks Sheryl

I will try the heart package with the extra tests and then review as required.

Because I have been doing heavy exercise for so many years without problems I should be ok but for peace of mind i will do the extra tests.