Enlarged heart?

[Charles Price]

I once had a panic attack and had several ECG's on one occasion I called the ambulance and the paramedic said I have an enlarged heart. I have a few ECG's since and I come back in the clear do you think the ambulance may have misread it first time? If was to have an enlarged heart does it mean I have heart failure? can an ECG give false positives? surely if I had a heart defect it would be mentioned again somewhere down the line.

[Ryker]

I suspect you were just on the receiving end of the lose tongue of a well meaning but poorly trained paramedic.
That's not the time or place for a diagnosis and "enlarged heart" isn't even a diagnosis. It's layman's terms and really means little to nothing.
The most common cause of an enlarged heart is cardiomyopathy in which one or more of the ventricles - the main pumping chambers of the heart - become thin walled and saggy and balloon outwards.
Chronic hypertension is the main cause.
If you have had subsequent ecg and you can run up a couple of flights of stairs (presuming you're not 95) and you don't have a history of high blood pressure then you're fine I'm sure.
As always - just get checked over every few years to have your bp checked. The GP will do that, listen to your heart and you'll have peace of mind.
R.

[TW4569]

I went to the ER with my first major panic attack, not knowing what was happening at the time. The first doctor I saw told me I had the heart of an 80 year old man (I was 18). After seeing a real cardiologist and having more thorough testing done, it turns out my heart was fine. So, you're probably fine. I'd recommend getting checked out just in case, but most likely there will be nothing wrong and you will feel a whole lot better knowing so.

[Seaghn-Scott White]

Don't stress over what was apparently indeed a false positive on an ECG, or the EMT misread the readout. He definitely had a loose tongue. I won't doubt he training of the EMT you encountered, but I doubt his ability as a diagnostician in this case. That is not his job. That is the job of the physician. I also doubt he had paramedic level training and experience, and was most likely an EMT-I. If you had an enlarged heart, i.e. cardiomegaly, you would probably know that you were suffering from it.

You would also know because any M1 could interpret cardiomypoathy in an x-ray, and if you have had one (i assume you have), the ER physician would have informed you. Spotting an enlarged heart in an x-ray is about as difficult as locating the Big Mac on a McDonalds menu.

[Ryker]

Just to demonstrate Seaghn-Scott's most excellent point:
Normal Heart:
1468
Dilated Cardiomyopathy:
1469
Where's The Big Mac:
1471

[Enduronman]

Quit worrying about it!
You're going to be fine friend.
Make the best of this day, you can control that.
Blessings.

Enduronman. :)

[Charles Price]

Thanks for the reassurance guys! has made me feel a lot better today.