1. < Heart & Blood Health

34/Male, Extremely concerned about my Echocardiogram results

Posted by joejumbalya @joejumbalya, Oct 4, 2023

So I have a couple of uncles who've had heart issues at a relatively young age and I also suffer from extreme health anxiety. So I went and had an Electrocardiogram done just to make sure everything is ok and below are my results. The doctor hasn't called me about these they posted them on the web portal, I'm still waiting on a call back. But in the mean time I'm freaking out over these results, I usually work out especially cardio 5 days a week and try to watch what I eat. I'm in pretty decent shape I'm 5'11 185lbs. Should I be super concerned about these? The main ones I'm concerned about I put a @ sign in front of.

Interpretation Summary:
@ 1. Normal left ventricular size, wall thickness, wall motion, with low
normal
systolic function and ejection fraction of 50-55%. The average global
longitudinal strain is-14.8%, also indicative of mildly reduced function.

2. Normal right ventricular size and function.
@3. Borderline dilated aortic root measuring 3.6 cm in diameter.
4. No significant valvular abnormalities seen.
Narrative
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Echo Findings
Aortic Valve:
The aortic valve is trileaflet.
Aortic valve is mildly thickened.
Borderline aortic root dilatation.
Aortic root measures 3.6 cm in diameter.
No aortic stenosis.
There is no aortic regurgitation.
Mitral Valve:
The mitral valve is normal in structure and function.
There is trace mitral regurgitation.
Tricuspid Valve:
The tricuspid valve morphology and motion is normal.
There is trace tricuspid regurgitation.
Pulmonic Valve:
The pulmonic valve is not well visualized.
Right Ventricle:
The right ventricle is normal in size and function.
Pulmonary artery pressure could not be evaluated due to inadequacy of
tricuspid regurgitation jet.
Right Atrium:
The right atrium is normal in size.
Left Atrium:
The left atrium is normal in size.
Left Ventricle:
The left ventricle is normal in size.
There is normal left ventricular wall thickness.
@The left ventricular systolic function is low normal.
@Ejection Fraction = 50 - 55%
@The average global longitudinal strain is-14.8%, also indicative of
mildly
decreased left ventricular function.
The left ventricular wall motion is normal.
Pericardium:
The pericardium appears normal.
Diastology:
LA Volume Index = 22.18cc/m2.
E / E' = 6.03

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gloaming | @gloaming | Oct 11, 2023

I was put on a small dose of metoprolol partly for heart rate control when I first came down with AF, but my cardio also said he was a bit worried about my BP, and he said the metoprolol doubles as a relaxant and doesn't let the heart beat quite so strenuously. Helps to lower BP.

Your diastolic pressure of 83 is....IS...high. Not worryingly so, but it is three points over the received high value of 80 before you are likely to need some kind of remediation. Again, I'm not a physician, but I read only three days ago, while looking up something else, that 80 is the demarcation point between 'healthy' and 'needing some careful thought' and watching. As an example, despite my use of metoprolol until my second ablation, I was running in the 130/85 range at rest. Now, seven months off metoprolol altogether, my waking BP is routinely 115/72. So, metoprolol might/might not be something you need, but it could....COULD...help to nip you back under the diastolic 80.

REPLY
dcheart | @dcheart | Feb 2 8:13pm

My EF was 32% and I was in full heart failure due to 30 years of being misdiagnosed.

Anyone who has an unexplainable arrhythmia or fast heart rate - please try to see an electrophysiologist. I was correctly diagnosed in minutes, and after a year of (the correct) meds my EF is 53%!

I was under the care of several cardiologists, and various specialists for my entire life. I have gone through the extensive diagnostic tests, and was never correctly treated - leading to the heart failure. It’s sad to think of the decades that were lost because I was misdiagnosed with POTS and/or anxiety for so long. My resting heart rate was never below 100bpm, until the electrophysiologist gave me the correct meds…my bpm was in the 60s within 30 minutes.

Advocate for yourself, and don’t take a “specialists” opinion at face value.

REPLY
dcheart | @dcheart | Feb 2 8:15pm
In reply to @thankful "@joejumbalya ECHO's in my opinion don't seem to be what most Cardiologists rely solely on. In..." + (show)
@thankful

@joejumbalya ECHO's in my opinion don't seem to be what most Cardiologists rely solely on. In my situation after having a HA back in 2014 (66 at the time), my EF was measured at 30. I had been working out regularly for several years so after going through Heart Rehab at the hospital I went back to the gym and determined I would turn things around. Started off slow, but continued to build on things. A year later having my annual Echo, I was convinced it was going to be much stronger only to find out that there was no change!
I was very dissapointed because I worked very hard and felt really good. I decided after that to get a 2nd opinion and so I went to the Mayo Clinic in AZ for a day of testing, with a Stress Echo at the end. It was an amazing time and at the end of the day had a meeting with the Cardiologist that was following me through most of the testing that day and he said right at the top that my EF was easily above 40. He followed up with me 2 weeks later with his results and told me I was between 45-47. To this day my original Cardiologist still shows me at an EF of 30.
I am currently seeing a new Cardiologist in AZ (we are Snobirds) and he relies more on Heart MRI's over & above Echo's and refers to them as the Gold Std.
Second opinions are highly recommended in my opinion! Jim@ thankful

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Please look into an electrophysiologist! Cardiologists are not equipped to handle all diagnoses.

REPLY
rtchacko | @rtchacko | Feb 3 4:53pm

CAROTID ARTERY DISEASE :
Shall we start a discussion on the above topic? I couldn't figure out on how to use a different tab for this topic!

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