Diagnosis
Your health care provider does a physical exam and asks questions about your symptoms and family's health history. The care provider checks your blood pressure and listens to your heart with a device called a stethoscope.
Tests
If your health care provider thinks you have left ventricular hypertrophy, imaging tests may be done to look at the heart.
Tests used to diagnose left ventricular hypertrophy may include:
Lab tests. Blood and urine tests may be done to check for conditions that affect heart health. Tests may be done to check blood sugar, cholesterol levels, and liver and kidney function.
Electrocardiogram. Also called an ECG or EKG, this quick and painless test measures the electrical activity of the heart. During an ECG, sensors called electrodes are attached to the chest and sometimes to the arms or legs. Wires connect the sensors to a machine, which displays or prints results. An ECG can show how well the heart is beating. Your care provider can look for signal patterns that suggest thickened heart muscle tissue.
Echocardiogram. An echocardiogram uses sound waves to create pictures of the heart in motion. This test shows blood flow through the heart and heart valves. It can show thickened heart muscle tissue and heart valve problems related to left ventricular hypertrophy.
Heart MRI. This test, also called a cardiac MRI, uses magnetic fields and radio waves to create detailed images of the heart.
