Does a reduced movement of Septum after stress echo always mean blockage?

[chucksusanb]

Hello,

I am 43 and just had a stress/echo performed.  The EKG part of the test was good.  But my Dr said he is going to send me to a 64 diagnol slice CT Scan of my heart.  He said he sometimes see peoples septums with reduced movemement after stress (excercise) but he just wants to make sure.  He said he doesn't think it is anything.

I then asked what the worse possible scenerio was.  He said catherization and maybe a stent.

I'm wondering if anyone else has had experience with this and if so, did it end up turning out okay, or was there a blockage?

Thank & God Bless,

Sue

[Occupant]

I think you mean a CT-A Scan. A simple CT Scan will not tell you anything about the degree of blockage and, judging by the number of people on this web site that complained about that even a CT-A Scan does not detect soft plaque reliably either, you'll probably be better off just doing an Angiogram anyway.

[ed34]

If the septum was moving correctly at rest but reduced during stress, this is almost certainly ischemia, a partial blockage and is reversible with intervention such as a stent. As the heart works harder, it needs more fuel (oxygen) and as you increase the work load, you shouldn't see reduced movements. This means not enough fuel is getting through for that work load. There are other possibilities, such as scar tissue from a previous attack, but then you would expect to see reduced movement at rest also. If the problem is a partial blockage and is stented, then the septum will return to normal again.