Asked by: Yasmira Kolodziejeza
medical health heart and cardiovascular diseases

Is a left bundle branch block considered heart disease?

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A left bundle branch block usually is a sign of an underlying heart disease, including dilated cardiomyopathy, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, high blood pressure, aortic valve disease, coronary artery disease and other heart conditions. While left bundle branch block can appear in healthy people, it most often does not.


Beside this, is a left bundle branch block dangerous?

Damage to one of the branch bundles can cause uncoordinated ventricular contractions, and an abnormal heart beat can result. A blocked signal on the right side of the heart is not usually serious, but a block on the left side can indicate a higher risk of coronary artery disease, or some other heart problem.

Additionally, what is a left bundle branch block of the heart? Left bundle branch block (LBBB) is a blockage of electrical impulses to the heart's left ventricle. This is the lower-left portion of the heart.

Considering this, can a left bundle branch block cause a heart attack?

Left bundle branch block can reflect damage to the left ventricle caused by high blood pressure, a heart attack, a failing aortic valve, coronary artery disease, heart failure, or other cardiac conditions. If a bundle branch block is causing symptoms, then the problem may be severe enough to require a pacemaker.

Is a left bundle branch block hereditary?

Most cases of heart block are not genetic and are not considered progressive familial heart block. The most common cause of heart block is fibrosis of the heart, which occurs as a normal process of aging. Other causes of heart block can include the use of certain medications or an infection of the heart tissue.

Related Question Answers

Chahinez Tammaro

Professional

Can you die from left bundle branch block?

especially when you have no other disease affecting your heart. In older people with coronary artery disease, left bundle branch block is associated with greater risk of death. This is especially true for people with heart failure. Left bundle branch block is also linked to a greater risk of death after a heart attack.

Aima Susin

Professional

Does LBBB shorten your life?

Unfortunately LBBB is not reversible. In your case, in the absence of any structural heart disease and symptoms, the overall risk of cardiovascular morbidity or mortality should be very low.

Ching Piazza

Professional

What is the treatment for bundle branch block?

Treatment
  • A pacemaker. If you have bundle branch block and a history of fainting, your doctor might recommend a pacemaker.
  • Cardiac resynchronization therapy. Also known as biventricular pacing, this procedure is similar to having a pacemaker implanted.

Dmitrijs Waltemade

Explainer

Can you exercise with left bundle branch block?

The appearance of LBBB induced by exercise does not always reflect the presence of coronary artery disease. A group of relatively younger patients exists presents abrupt chest pain during effort, coinciding with the first beat of LBBB and unaccompanied by vegetative symptoms, that does not force exercise to be stopped.

Sakira Lichtenthal

Explainer

What does a left bundle branch block indicate?

Left bundle branch block is an abnormal pattern seen on an electrocardiogram (ECG), which indicates that the cardiac electrical impulse is not being distributed across the ventricles of the heart in the normal way.

Fauzia Mukundan

Explainer

Which is worse right or left bundle branch block?

This prospective study demonstrated that men with left bundle branch block showed both a much higher risk for developing high degree atrioventricular block and a markedly higher hazard ratio for all-cause mortality than individuals with right bundle branch block.

Gordiano Velikson

Pundit

What percent of blockage requires a stent?

By clinical guidelines, an artery should be clogged at least 70 percent before a stent should be placed, Resar said. “A 50 percent blockage doesn't need to be stented,” he said.

Inessa Esan

Pundit

What heart block feels like?

First-degree heart block often does not cause symptoms. It may be detected during a routine electrocardiogram (ECG/EKG), but the patient's heart rate and rhythm are usually normal. Symptoms of second- and third-degree heart block include fainting, dizziness, fatigue, shortness of breath and chest pain.

Kamelia Altekruger

Pundit

Can left bundle branch block cause shortness of breath?

In people with heart failure, left bundle branch block can sometimes make those symptoms such as shortness of breath and fatigue worse. In very rare cases, both the right and left bundles become blocked. This is a form of complete heart block.

Clayton Tobulinsky

Pundit

Is coffee bad for the heart?

In a new analysis of one of the country's largest and longest-running studies, drinking coffee was linked to a lower risk of heart failure, stroke and coronary heart disease. Every extra cup of coffee consumed per day reduced each of these conditions by 8%, 7% and 5%, respectively, up to at least six cups per day.

Janny Zhupikov

Pundit

How serious is a bundle branch block?

The main complication of bundle branch block, right or left, is to progress to a complete block of the electric conduction from the upper chambers of the heart to the lower. This can slow your heart rate, which can cause fainting and lead to serious complications and abnormal heart rhythms.

Sandro Kastler

Teacher

Can LBBB cause chest pain?

Background: Intermittent left bundle branch block (LBBB) has been linked to chest pain, and causes cardiac memory electrocardiographic (ECG) changes mimicking ischemia. Purpose: To present a case of chest pain with ECG abnormalities suggestive of ischemia, both likely caused by LBBB.

Suanne Schmiedel

Teacher

What does a left bundle branch block look like?

A simple way to diagnose a left bundle branch in an ECG with a widened QRS complex (> 120 ms) would be to look at lead V1. If the QRS complex is widened and downwardly deflected in lead V1, a left bundle branch block is present. With the faster heart rate, the QRS complex morphology changes to that of a LBBB.

Guoying Schooss

Teacher

Can you have surgery with a bundle branch block?

These data suggest that the presence of BBB does not significantly increase the likelihood of cardiac complications following surgery, but that patients with LBBB may not tolerate the stress of perioperative noncardiac complications.

Lijie Hentsche

Teacher

Is LBBB an arrhythmia?

Electrocardiogram patterns of left bundle branch block and right bundle branch block. In fact, both LBBB and RBBB are found in the "normal" population. Both RBBB and LBBB probably indicate increased risk for cardiovascular disease; however, neither on its own is an indication for pacing.

Weam Batchyanskas

Reviewer

Can a stress test show a blockage?

A normal stress test result only shows that there is not a significant coronary artery blockage. For example, a nuclear stress test may be inaccurate if someone has severe blockages in all three main coronary arteries. The test looks for differences in blood flow between areas of the heart.

Nermin Carvalhino

Reviewer

Are beta blockers contraindicated in left bundle branch block?

Professor Dollery: A beta receptor blocking drug should not be used in anybody who has complete block and only very cautiously in the presence of bundle branch block. Minor conduction defects do not appear to be contraindications to beta blockade.

Mauricia Wingbermuhlen

Reviewer

What medication is given for heart block?

Medication Summary
Common drugs that induce atrioventricular (AV) block include beta-blockers, calcium channel blockers, antiarrhythmics, and digoxin. Withdrawal of the offending drugs is the first treatment for heart block.

Anjum Sippel

Reviewer

How is a bundle branch block diagnosed?

A bundle branch block can be diagnosed when the duration of the QRS complex on the ECG exceeds 120 ms. A right bundle branch block typically causes prolongation of the last part of the QRS complex and may shift the heart's electrical axis slightly to the right.