The Hypertrophied Heart

Whenever the heart is challenged with an increased work load for a prolonged period, it responds by increasing its muscle mass--a phenomenon known as cardiac hypertrophy. Although cardiac hypertrophy is commonly seen under physiological conditions such as development and exercise, a wide variety of pathological situa­ tions such as hypertension (pressure overload), valvular defects (volume overload), myocardial infarction (muscle loss), and cardiomyopathy (muscle disease) are also known to resul