Left Ventricular aneurysm

The left ventricle is one of the four chambers of the heart and one of its primary functions is to pump oxygenated blood to the tissues and organs all over the body. As a person survives from a heart attack the ventricular wall weakens and ventricular aneurysm occurs, which means, this area of the heart will appear to be stretched out or abnormally enlarged. One of its common complications is the constriction of the normal blood flow in the body, limiting the person’s stamina.

Aside from ageing, long-term elevated blood pressure or hypertension is also one of the most common causes of a ventricular aneurysm, mainly because a person with hypertension experiences abnormal pumping of the blood or abnormal blood flow which causes atypical friction in the ventricular walls as well as the arteries.

A ruptured left ventricle causes immediate decrease in blood supply to other organs, endocarditis (infection of the heart), cardiac tumours, infiltrative diseases of the heart, and aortic dissection (tearing of aorta) and for some, even death. In most cases, this is associated with severe characteristic chest pain.

Thus, with early diagnosis, the patient can undergo a left ventricular reconstructive surgery which will enable the affected area to be repaired back into its normal size