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Questions posted in the
Heart Forum have been answered by doctors from The Cleveland Clinic Foundation.
Question Title: Assessing/ Monitoring LV function for MRForum: The Heart Forum
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I have MR of 4+ in regular Echo cardiogram. My doctor has asked me to get ECHO cardiogram every three months. What is Echo cardiograph stress test to assess LV funtion and Gated bloodpool scan with exercise? Are they any helpfull test for my condition? Shall I suggest my cardiologist for these test? Thank you.
Dear AG These tests may be useful. In patients with severe MR, if they have symptoms, I usually recommend surgery. If they have evidence of deteriorating left ventricular function on a test echo, I usually recommend surgery. If the ventricle looks normal on a rest echo, I get a stress echo to see if the ventricle decompensates with exercise. These days we are recommending MV repair much earlier than we used to, even with minimal symptoms or echo abnormalities. I hope this has been useful. I wish you the best of luck. Feel free to write back. Information provided here is for general purposes only. Specific questions should be addressed to your own doctor. If you would like to make an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center, please call 1-800-CCF-CARE or inquire online by using the Heart Center website at www.ccf.org/heartcenter. The Heart Center website contains a directory of the cardiology staff that can be used to select the physician best suited to address your cardiac problem.
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