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treatment options for low ejection fraction 35 or under and no symptom

Heart & Blood Health | Last Active: Sep 6, 2023 | Replies (13)
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@pumaguy79

i'd like to resurrect this topic of low ejection fraction measurement without symptoms.

I'm a 78 year old male. I have a very high calcium score first measured in 1997 ( Heart Check America). It's higher now.

Almost 20 years ago I was suddenly told that an echocardiogram reading set my LVEF at 25. I was healthy , active and in disbelief. Later , my LVEJ was reread as "normal".

Recently, soon after my Covid vaccine( Phizer) I was told after a CCT that my LVEF was 24% with a stroke volume of 51 ml. I was strong then...am stronger now. My apartment is up 14 steps which I traverse numerous times per day. I exercise walk 1 to 1.5 miles 7 days a week and walk another .5 to .75 miles doing normal activities.
I'm totally stumped on the usefulness and accuracy of these ejection fraction numbers.

Anyone out there have similar experience or have an explanation ?

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Replies to "i'd like to resurrect this topic of low ejection fraction measurement without symptoms. I'm a 78..."
Teresa, Volunteer Mentor | @hopeful33250 | Sep 3, 2023

Hello @pumaguy79

You do present a puzzling question. I can certainly understand that you would like some answers. It appears from your post, that you basically feel OK despite the EF numbers. Is my understanding correct? Do you have any heart valve problems or any arrythmia problems?

While we wait for others to respond to your post, I'm wondering if your cardiologist has provided any insight to these changes in your EF?

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Dana, Volunteer Mentor | @danab | Sep 3, 2023

Hi Pumaguy79, I was also diagnosed with a Low EF back when I first found out I had developed an enlarged Heart. This was for me was a result of a bad flu bug that caused fluid to build up around my Heart and Lungs. But it definitely had symptoms. Mine tho at its lowest was at 5 % and required the inserting of a pacemaker and some medications to help strengthen my heart. This was over 15 years ago now and during that time my heart did regain some strength up to an EF of the high 40's to low 50's. Now my damage was more predominant and caused other problems with arrythmias. Yours don't sound that bad as an EF is considered to be called CHF when it goes below 30. The main problem usually is fluid retention. The heart is the device that helps to push fluid out of the Lungs and when it gets low below 30 typically, they will put you on a diuretic like Lazic to help remove some of that fluid from your body. My next thought is have you reached out to a Cardiologist to oversee this problem or is your Regular Doctor handling this condition. I would suggest if you haven't seen a cardiologist yet to do so and most likely it can be managed before getting worse. If I can help with any questions, please ask as I delt with this for about 10 years and quite familiar with living with CHF.

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