Heart Health
What does an enlarged atrium mean?
Ask the doctor
Q. I recently had an echocardiogram because my doctor heard a murmur, and I was told that my heart valves and heart function were both normal. But when I looked at the report, it indicated that I had an enlarged left atrium. What does that mean?
A. The left atrium is one of your heart's four chambers. Located in the upper half of the heart on the left side of your body, it receives freshly oxygenated blood from your lungs. This blood then surges down through the mitral valve into the left ventricle (the lower left chamber of the heart). Then, the blood travels up through the aortic valve and finally out to supply the body with oxygen.
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