|
Sometimes, bundle branch block (BBB) develops for no known reason. Other times, it may be due to a variety of causes, such as:
 Degenerative effects of aging
- High blood pressure (hypertension)
- Past heart attack that damaged the heart muscle
- Past viral infection
- Valvular heart disease, particularly calcific aortic stenosis (narrowing of the aortic valve due to hardened calcium deposits)
- One of several heart or lung conditions that may have affected the ventricles (e.g., heart failure, especially right-sided heart failure, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)
- Congenital condition (present since birth)
- Past injury to the chest
The prevalence of BBB increases with age. In younger patients, BBB frequently exists with no symptoms or underlying heart disease. Among older patients, BBB is more likely to exist concurrently with underlying heart disease, and the long-term outlook for these patients is worse than for similar heart patients without BBB. Among younger patients with BBB, physicians often look for other cardiac conditions, such as coronary heart disease and cardiomyopathy, that may be in the early developing stages.
|
/doctor_89.jpg "ulcerative colitis tips")
