My mother-in-law was just told she has a herniated heart. We can't get a straight answer from her as to what this means or what may have caused it. She tells us her doctor will try to correct it with medication but another family member has heard it is a fatal condition. She is 60 yrs old and in poor health. None of us believe she could survive surgery.

Can anyone help me make sense of this? Thank you... :confused:

Do you mean that it is enlarged?

My best guess is that she is talking about an upper aortic aneurism. But she has indeed coined a phrase! :D

It DOES exist in the literature though, but rare. It CAN occur with severe trauma that tears the pericardium (I guess a LITERAL broken heart) or from a pressure buildup after a lung is removed. I doubt that either of these is what your mom is talking about though.