What is diastolic dysfunction grade 2?

My MIL was diagnosed with diastolic dysfunction grade 2. What is it exactly and how serious? Thank you.

[erijon]

Diastolic dysfunction is described as grade 1,2 or 3 with 1 being mild and three being severe. These results can change from echo to echo depending on the underlying condition. The most common cause is that the walls of the left ventricle have become thickened and not able to relax and the most common cause of that is high blood pressure over a long period of years. If the underlying condition is corrected this can resolve. A grade 2 is considered moderate dysfunction and I'm sure the doctor will take steps to resolve the underlying problems and test again to check on any progress.

Jon

[grendslori]

When the heart is in the relaxing phase, that is referred to as the diastolic phase. When a person has diastolic dysfunction that means that the heart does not relax completely which makes it harder for the chamber to stretch and fill with blood. Depending on the cause and degree of the dysfunction is what determines how serious the problem is. Calcium Channel Blockers seem to work better in many patients as opposed to Beta Blockers in relaxing the muscle. The grading of 2, I am not sure what that means; maybe ed can answer that part of your question for you.

[erijon]

Diastolic dysfunction is described as grade 1,2 or 3 with 1 being mild and three being severe. These results can change from echo to echo depending on the underlying condition. The most common cause is that the walls of the left ventricle have become thickened and not able to relax and the most common cause of that is high blood pressure over a long period of years. If the underlying condition is corrected this can resolve. A grade 2 is considered moderate dysfunction and I'm sure the doctor will take steps to resolve the underlying problems and test again to check on any progress.

Jon

[rtjrevie]

They put her on Propanolol (a beta blocker). They started out at 5mg because she was concerned about her BP dropping too much. She is a very healthy 75yo (retired nurse and very active) that was just having some shortness of breath when exercising. Her ejection fraction was 60 and 70%, does that matter? She is scheduled for a life insurance physical and worried she may not pass it because of this new finding. What do you think? (any info is appreciated, thank you!!)

[grendslori]

She may not pass the physical for insurance, don't be surprized if that happens. The EF% is okay; the norm for this condition is between 50-70%.