What Causes Enlarged Heart?

Posted on Wed, 26 Mar 2014

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Wed, 26 Mar 2014 Answered on

Tue, 15 Apr 2014 Last reviewed on

Question : I am 47 years old and I had a bad fall in the bathtub. I had x-rays taken and they showed I have an enlarged heart. I have an apt with a Cardiologist in a couple of weeks but was wondering if the enlarged heart could be due to the fall? I take my blood pressure frequently and it has never been high. I have felt fine in the past and still feel fine, except for my ribs hurting from the fall.

Answered by Dr. Ivo Ditah (23 minutes later)

Brief Answer: No, enlarged heart cannot be caused by a fall! Detailed Answer: Hi and thank you so much for this query. I am so sorry to hear about this fall in the bath tub and the finding of an enlarged heart on your xray and all the disturbing thoughts this must have caused you. An enlarged heart cannot be caused by a fall. Enlarged hearts can represent a disease condition just like they can be normal. The gravity of each condition depends entirely on what the cause is. The most common cause of an enlarged heart is hypertension and your regular readings which are normal have made this quite unlikely to be possible cause of this finding. In any case, the doctor will do a couple of tests to try and identify the cause of this. Some can be due to fluid accumulation around the heart, congenital disease, adaptation to an obstacle downstream, etc. How the heart looks is important but what matters most is how well you feel. Because you have no symptoms suggestive of a heart disease, there is little to worry about. Go ahead and get this looked into. Get the diagnosis and probable reassurance that there is no impact as to your overall health now or maybe in the future as well. I hope this has addressed your query fully. Feel free to ask for clarifications if need be. I wish you well. Thanks. Dr. Ivo, MD.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Yogesh D