23/07/2025
An enlarged heart isn’t a condition in itself — it’s a symptom caused by different cardiovascular issues.
Having a big heart can be a good thing when you’re talking about emotions, but when doctors talk about an enlarged heart, or cardiomegaly, it’s usually a sign that something else is going on with your ticker.
Hearts are often described as the size of a human fist, but research suggests that s*x, height, body weight and age play a part in determining what a “normal” heart size is. If yours is bigger than it should be, your doctor might tell you that you have an enlarged heart. And unless you’re an athlete whose heart has gotten bigger from strenuous exercise, an enlarged heart can indicate a problem.
“The heart is a sack,” explains Fernando Fleischman, MD, a cardiothoracic surgeon at Keck Medicine of USC and associate professor of clinical surgery at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. “When the heart begins to fail, it isn’t able to push blood out. As a result, blood stagnates and the heart gets bigger
