Cardiomegaly risk factors
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
Overview
Cardiomegaly (enlarged heart) can be caused by conditions that increase the workload of heart i,e to pump harder than usual or that damage the heart muscle. Established risk factors for cardiomegaly include family history of cardiomegaly, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, smoking, and coronary artery disease.
Risk Factors
Patients have a greater risk of developing an enlarged heart if they have any of the following risk factors:
- Age: Age as an risk factor of cardiomegaly has been controversial. Some studies have shown no increase in heart size with age if hypertension and other heart diseases are carefully excluded.[1] However elderly people are at increased risk for developing cardiomegaly because of other comorbid conditions.
- Ethnicity : African American
- Gender : Males have an increased risk than females for developing cardiomegaly.
- Alcohol: Heavy alcoholism has significant direct cardiac effects and also results in hypertensive heart disease[2]
- Congenital heart disease: Genetic condition that affects the structure of heart increases the risk for developing cardiomegaly, especially when the condition is not treated at early stage of life.
- Family history of heart disease: A family history of cardiomyopathy increases the risk of deveopling cardiomegaly.
- High blood pressure: Blood pressure >140/90 mmHg results in remodeling of left ventricular myocardium.[3]
- Hyperlipidemia: Lipid and lipoprotein abnormalities are common in the general population and are regarded as a modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular diseases due to their contribution to atherosclerosis.
- Obesity: Excess weight contributed significantly to formation of structural and geometric changes of left ventricle and left atrium.
- Physical exercise: Intense, prolonged endurance and strength training can cause the heart to adapt to the extra workload.
- Tobacco smoking: Smoking tends to increase blood cholesterol levels and contributes to the risk of developing heart disease.
- Valvular heart disease : Valves may be damaged by a variety of conditions leading to stenosis, regurgitation or prolapse. Any of these conditions may cause the heart to enlarge.
References
- ↑ Hodkinson I, Pomerance A, Hodkinson HM (1979). "Heart size in the elderly: a clinicopathological study". J R Soc Med. 72 (1): 13–6. PMC 1436754. PMID 162207.
- ↑ Marmot MG, Elliott P, Shipley MJ, Dyer AR, Ueshima H, Beevers DG; et al. (1994). "Alcohol and blood pressure: the INTERSALT study". BMJ. 308 (6939): 1263–7. PMC 2540174. PMID 7802765.
- ↑ Plotnikova IV, Sokolov AA, Kovalev IA, Bezliak VV (2012). "[Remodeling of left ventricular myocardium at early stages of essential arterial hypertension in adolescents]". Kardiologiia. 52 (12): 28–33. PMID 23237438.