Moderately dilated left atrium

[Timpsonboy]

Hi all I have just had a letter following a echocardiogram saying I'm having my third cardioversion which is fine but it says I have sustained LV function but have a moderately dilated left atrium.Is this normal for afib I'm terrified about it as I have read bad stuff about it.can anyone calm my fears a little.

[BobD Volunteer]

Fairly normal that the left atrium becomes enlarged over time. If the AF is well controlled this can reverse.

[Hidden]

G'day,

The following quote is from my Consultants letter to me GP - back in May 2010, following my original diagnosis in January 2010.

"I note an echocardiogram performed in January 2010 showed a mildly dilated LV cavity with good

systolic function. LA was dilated at 5.1 cms, with LA area 30.4 cm2 (squared). No valvular abnormalities were seen."

Like Bobd say, all fairly normal stuff. Don't panic, just keep calm and carry on😃😃

By the way, by way of some comfort - in January 2010 I was 65 ...I've just turned 76. I have well controlled ( by medication and diet) AF. That said I am having an ECHO on 2 October to see how things are currently, just a precaution.

John

[Timpsonboy in reply to Hidden]

Thanks John I was terrified when I saw it I'm 56 and still working the letter was to my doctor with me copied in so nobody has spoken to me about it and it says they are hoping to cardiovert me .I suppose it's because of the pandemic that he hasn't seen me in person but it would have been reassuring to have spoken with him instead of seeing a copied in letter

[Jajarunner in reply to Timpsonboy]

I hate those letters. I had one saying I had a distorted aorta or something!!! Wait for it.... It was a TYPO, I found out six weeks of worry later. And naturally you look it all up on Professor Google and scare yourself to death over nothing. If they must write without appointments they could at least explain what it all means ie "dilated atrium (this is normal in Afib) " etc.

Rant over,!!!

[Lilypocket in reply to Hidden]

Hi Careuny

Do you still get episodes of Afib? Or are you in permanent Afib?

Take care!

[Hidden in reply to Lilypocket]

My original diagnosis was paroxysmal AF. Over the years this remains unchanged. My last full blown AF was in April 2018. Once I had identified the trigger as being food I consulted a Nutritionist and have controlled the AF with a combination of medication and diet. Since 2018 I have had many bursts of high HR some quite debilitating others just annoying. At the moment I am fine but due for an ECHO next week. Also at the moment I have to say osteoarthritis in my shoulders is more of a problem than AF.

John

[Lilypocket in reply to Hidden]

Thanks for your reply! I just answered and touched something on my keyboard and hey presto! It was deleted before I could send it. But I wanted to know what the trigger was or was it an accumulation of specific foods?

X

[Hidden in reply to Lilypocket]

Hi,

Back in the day I was a participant in the forerunner of this forum (on Yahoo, but now defunct). It was from this that I learnt about the vagal nerve and from this the association of triggers and food. For me, certain types of food generated various symptoms ( very aggressive and painful bloating, diarrhea, intestinal gurgling and just burping, all on their own and at random). My GP ran some blood tests which eliminated IBS and Coeliac Disease and I then consulted a Nutritionist.

So, initially she prescribed me a course of Probiotics and recommended I go gluten free, and wheat free - I also added going oats free. However, over time it seemed that this was not enough and by keeping a food/event diary I was eventually over a year or so able to eliminate many other foods that either inflamed or in some way aggravated my vagal nerve. So it was a case of calm the vagal nerve, calm the heart. This elimination process embraced, runner beans, a range of pulses, various beers which in their ingredients may contain wheat and gluten, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, ( but spring onions/shallots are OK), yoghurt, full cream milk, soft cheeses ( but not hard cheeses), some types of pork, particularly with crackling,... the list goes on. If you click on my user name it may take you through the search process to some of my earlier posts on this subject.

Hope that helps.

John

[Lilypocket in reply to Hidden]

Hi

Very interesting. I believe my vagal nerve could be implicated sometimes. Many of my episodes ,but certainly not all, have been in the evening after a meal. I have been vegetarian for over 30 years. I have totally cut out caffeine and this year (about 4 months ago) I stopped eating bread and porridge. I almost never eat pasta but eat rice instead of potatoes. I topped up my vitamin D. I still drink a little red wine. I have since lost weight dropping from a size 14 to a size 12. My bloating has also been eliminated. Best of all I have reduced my Afib from twice a month to once in nearly 4 months. Of course this may just be a coincidence - it's not called paroxysmal for nothing 😊. I will feel it to have made a difference after the winter which is usually when I have the most episodes. If the episodes continue at 1 every 2-3 months I'll feel my lifestyle change is the reason.

Take care

[Hidden in reply to Lilypocket]

Hi,

Your comments prompted more thoughts. Actually, the way you have dealt with AF is a bit the same pathway I've travelled. Initially on diet, I cut out all bread and porridge too. Interestingly, in recent times I have been able to return, 3 or 4 times a week to plain white sliced bread sandwiches for lunch when I'm working. I still can't process the 'healthy' brown and/or grainy bread. The rest of the week I have Schar gluten free crispbread. About once a month ( as a reward for myself for being 'good', I have porridge. I daren't try it any more frequent than that. Tea, coffee and alcohol has never been an issue for me but I have had to seriously review my beer ( lager) intake and now can drink very few brands, i.e. alcohol free beer, or 2 Italian brands whose ingredients include maize and hops. No pasta, potatoes yes and rice too. I love Chinese restaurant food but recently have had a well known supermarket packaged brand and the sauces in it have wrecked my digestive system and triggered both high BP and high HR, once or twice causing massive bloating as well as major bathroom occupancy !!😮

Nowadays unless something else is going on, perhaps stress, I can control things by watching my food, however, sometimes I may experiment and see what happens. I think these days I am more affected by preservatives and similar ingredients as opposed to the actual food itself.

Hope your success continues.

John

[Lilypocket in reply to Hidden]

Thanks John! I don't/didn't have the same digestive problems and symptoms ( neither have I set up home in the bathroom 😜) but had quite bad bloating just under the sternum. I used to eat wholemeal bread too. Now I have Biscottes ( not sure what that is in English been in frogland too long 😂) which suit me fine. Can you drink wine? ( Red is best - white is less good for the heart I believe. Champagne triggers Afib for me after one sip. Odd.)

X

[Hidden in reply to Lilypocket]

Lilypocket- yes I can drink wine ( and spirits). Too much according to my GP ( 😕😕). Wine of choice is always a red, but, I have dabbled with white. Not often though. Champers - naaaaah! well, unless I have to.

John

[Jajarunner]

Apparently I have a severely dilated left atrium, so touche 😆😆😆😆. Cardiologist said that 1. Severe/moderate etc is a load of cobblers since they change the classification of measurements from time to time anyway ( my enlarged right side is no longer enlarged since last meeting of European Cardiologists, apparently!) and 2. It is caused by Afib, more than likely.

He thinks that sort of language is unhelpful and worrying 😆

[Bauldy]

I have dilated atrium with a leaky valve, would have to dig the report out to find out when I was diagnosed I almost forgot I had a problem till this post, I had a heart scan four weeks ago and all looked ok.