What does it mean if I have Right Bundle Branch Block? --The Doctors Lounge(TM)

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Forum Name: Miscellaneous Cardiology Topics

Question: What does it mean if I have Right Bundle Branch Block?

TDM - Mon May 21, 2007 3:15 pm

About 4 years ago I ended up in the emergency room of a hospital because I had a severe rash all over my body.

The doctor gave me an electrocardiogram and observed that I had RBBB. (To be honest, I don't remember if it was RBBB or LBBB, but since he told me it was nothing to worry about, that it was just a variation of electrical activity of the heart, I am assuming it was RBBB).

I asked him to tell me about this condition and all I was able to extract from him is that it was nothing to worry about, but if one day I wanted to be, say, an airforce pilot, it might affect my candidacy for such position.

Can someone tell me more about the implications of this condition (RBBB)? Also, feel free to discuss LBBB as well, although I am not sure that's the condition I was diagnosed with.

Thanks

Dr. Chan Lowe - Mon May 21, 2007 7:59 pm

The electrical system of the heart starts at the Sinus Atrial or SA node where the signal for the heart to beat originates (sort of like the battery of an electrical system). The signal then travels through the atrium to the atrio-ventricular node (the AV node). It then moves down into the ventricles into the bundle of his which shortly there after divides into two "wires", the left and right purkinje fibers.

In a bundle branch block, there is a delay in the electrical signal traveling through these purkinje fibers. A delay of the right system results in a right bundle branch block and a delay in the left results in a left bundle branch block.

A RBBB may be associated with underlying heart problems; however, it is also a fairly common in normal, healthy hearts. A LBBB is not generally considered normal so a work up should be done to look for any problems.

Best wishes.

TDM - Tue May 22, 2007 1:11 pm

Hello Dr. Chan Lowe, thanks a lot for your explanation.

Can you please answer some of my other questions on this forum?

Thanks!

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