Since we're asking hypothetical medical questions for stories...

[fma_fanatic]

I thought I'd add one. I'm currently in the plotting stages with someone for a story. The genre is modern fantasy/sci-fi, though it might end up being fantasy since it does rely heavily on magic. The main character (not mine) has a small heart issue that has been largely covered up with an item that was magically enhanced to basically keep the character alive. Said character will, at some point, lose the item. My plotting partner is at a loss as to what might happen to their character should this happen.

The description of the heart issue has been vaguely described as a 'weak heart'. I know it's really vague, but bear in mind this is still in the plotting stages. So my questions are :

1) what kind of issues would require the magical item - I had considered something like congestive heart failure

2) if the item does in fact get lost - most likely taken or even destroyed - what kinds of effect would that have?

Bear in mind this is going to be a world where there is more magic than logic/science, so the idea that a doctor could take care of this has been largely dismissed.

[TheSHAD0W]

"Congestive heart failure" is more of a symptom than a problem in and of itself; it's when the the heart doesn't pump out enough blood and fluid builds up in part of the body. This would probably be caused by dead muscle tissue from a blocked cardiac artery (heart attack), bad valve or flabby heart caused by hypertension. Any of those would probably work for your story, although you might not want to get into the technicals. Having a magical "boost" for that disappear would bring on the symptoms of congestive heart failure.

There are two sorts of congestive heart failure; the most common causes fluids to build up in the lungs, leading to shortness of breath. The other form causes fluids to mainly build up in the extremities, causing swelling. Both lead to a lack of stamina.

[csquared]

So many things that you can do with that. Seeing as my cardiologist has been scaring me scaring me lately with all the things that COULD go wrong if I don't start making changes to my lifestyle...

I think if you got to technical talking about an enlarged aortic root, blocked arteries and fibrillation, you'll bore your audience.

As you are thinking a magical side to this, maybe one of these:
1. He has no heart. The magical item keeps his blood moving. No heart, no heart beat, no pulse. Might make it easy for him to fake being dead.

2. His "heartbeat" was taken and placed in the magical item. Lost or destroyed, his heart will stop.

3. Rather than a heart problem, something more like a curse? If the magical item is lost or destroyed, all the blood in his body will race to his heart and it will explode. That could may an interesting (and gory) death scene.

You might demonstrate any one of these at some point when the item get too far away from him and then is brought back within proximity.

[Der Cute]

Weak heart - possibly disproportionate to the body size? Think Cat heart for Huge Person. It is too weak to do the job of pumping. (it was a quicky replacement for his orginal heart the duck)
Every change of heart LOL he absorbs LOL some of the qualities.

Weak - unable to do the blood pumping job, so it focuses on one part that he needs atm. "I'm doing calculus. Blood, please go brain. Ahh. Better. But can't watch porn! FUCK!"

[FormerCallingCardRep]

Look into Prinzmetals Angina. My symptoms are without medication a fast heart rate and chest pains whin my cardiac arteries spasm and closes off

[Sapphire Silk]

There are a lot of different choices.

Congestive Heart Failure is a bit extreme unless the character in question has had a heart attack or had issues with high blood pressure, or been a very heavy drinker. Most forms of CHF are the result of lifestyle choices: smoking and drinking being the top two.

On the other hand, there are several congenital heart issues that can be hidden in childhood and pop up later in adult one. One is Patent Ductus Arteriosus, where a duct that shunts blood away from the lungs (because the lungs don't oxygenate blood in utero) fails to close. You can hear a heart murmer with a rolled up tube, which would be appropriate for a fantasy game. Shortness of breath and chest pain are some symptoms. Once the magic item is removed, symptoms could appear slowly, but not necessarily overly impede the character, giving him time to look for a cure or replace the item.

[Sparky]

You might find some ideas if you Google blue baby syndrome.

[SongsOfDragons]

On the other hand, there are several congenital heart issues that can be hidden in childhood and pop up later in adult one. One is Patent Ductus Arteriosus, where a duct that shunts blood away from the lungs (because the lungs don't oxygenate blood in utero) fails to close. You can hear a heart murmer with a rolled up tube, which would be appropriate for a fantasy game. Shortness of breath and chest pain are some symptoms. Once the magic item is removed, symptoms could appear slowly, but not necessarily overly impede the character, giving him time to look for a cure or replace the item.

I was pondering too about the possibility of some physical defect - but I couldn't remember the name of it.

My housemate's brother has a 'dodgy ticker' too - I think the issue is that one of his valves only has two flaps instead of three. Don't know the name of that either and since Bro is still able to go to work and cricket without too much trouble it may not be enough.

Is it wrong that I thought of Tony Stark when I read the description?

Also, yay for font of medical story research. ^^ Certainly better than trusting Yahoo Questions...

[emt_cookies]

Maybe the item could keep an infection somewhere in the heart at bay? My friend from school told me he was in the ICU for about 2 weeks last summer. I think he had myocarditis but he might have had endocarditis (different locations, both pertain to the heart).

http://www.medicinenet.com/myocarditis/article.htm

[Sapphire Silk]

I was pondering too about the possibility of some physical defect - but I couldn't remember the name of it.

My housemate's brother has a 'dodgy ticker' too - I think the issue is that one of his valves only has two flaps instead of three. Don't know the name of that either and since Bro is still able to go to work and cricket without too much trouble it may not be enough.

Is it wrong that I thought of Tony Stark when I read the description? .

Sort of. Stark's original origin story is very close to what was in the first Iron Man movie: he was injured when kidnapped, and used a magnetic plate to keep shrapnel out of his heart.

The issue you describe doesn't have a name that I'm aware of and may be rare. As long as the heart functions normally, it's not a problem.

[fma_fanatic]

Gah, I haven't forgotten about this thread. I am grateful for the ideas presented. It ended up being scrapped because it was deemed too complicated. He went with the whole undead theme. So now the guy is a walking corpse, sort of like Dylan Dog - he keeps falling apart, which in itself is a lot more amusing.