A patient is experiencing increased afterload. How would this condition likely impact the heart structure over time?

A. It enlarges the heart chambers – This is typically seen with volume overload, not pressure overload. Volume overload leads to chamber dilation, not wall thickening. B. It strengthens heart valves – Afterload does not improve valve function; in fact, high afterload can worsen conditions like aortic stenosis over time. C. It thickens heart walls – The heart compensates for increased afterload (e.g., from chronic hypertension or aortic stenosis) by hypertrophying (thickening) the ventricular walls. This is called concentric hypertrophy, a structural adaptation to increased pressure. D. It thins the heart walls – Thinning occurs in conditions like dilated cardiomyopathy where the problem is decreased contractility and volume overload, not increased afterload.