Please help

[puglovernkellogg]

I had a nuclear heart scan and stress test done yesterday. My doctor told me the test results today and am going to see a cardiologist asap.  She told me it looks like a muscle in my heart is dead and that I have had a heartattack in the past. Can someone please tell me what a large anteroseptal infarct is and what anteroseptal wall akinesis that supports diognosis of infarct means?  ANd what is mild lateral wall ischemia?  Thank you.

[Pointman]

Your DR, should ahev expaine dthese to you, you can look thes up on internet, but be ware dit can be confusing,  i would  for sure ask the cardologist what they meant.
Make yuo alist of notes of your questions before yuo see teh other DR. I am curious what where your symtond before you ahd the test, did  you have a ekg or other test before the DR. ordered the test/
hope all goes well/

pointman

[erijon]

You need to see a cardiologist. What your test suggests is that an area of your heart is damaged and the cells in that area are dead. This was most likely caused by a previous heart attack. Unfortunately, the fact that you also have wall motion abnormalities in this area (hypokinesis) backs up the possibity of damage to your heart. When they did the Nuclear Stress test, did your doctor tell you what your EF% was? This is important as it represents the efficiency at which your heart is working. Anything over 55% up to 75% is considered normal. It is possible to have a damaged area of the heart and still have a normal EF%, you need to discuss this with the cardiologist. If it is low, there is always cardiac rehab to help improve the function of your heart.

The mild lateral ischemia means you have another area of possible blockage meaning that area is not getting enough blood when needed. Why did you have the test in the first place? Were you experiencing chest pain?

I hope this helps,

Jon

[puglovernkellogg]

Hi thank you for the post.  I am so confused. I am going to see the Cardiologist on Monday and then they scheduled an angiogram for wednesday I am totally freaking out here. it says that my left ventricular EF is 47%at the post-stress end and at the resting end my EF% is 60.  I have a lot of shoulder, left arm, back, neck and chest pain all the time but I have a lot of other problems so I just figured that it was all because of the neck and back problems I have and lung problems I have.  My resting pulse is 116 and they say that I have tachycardia also. I am only 32 years old and this is scary.  I had an abnormal EKG 5 years ago that nobody bothered to tell me about so when I requested all of my medical records I brought it into my new doctor and she said I needed to have the stress test and nuclear heart scan and so I had it on Tuesday and then wednesday they told me all of this and are getting me into a cardiologist and angiogram asap. My family doctor said that I have had a heartattack according to this and that a part of my heart muscle is dead which shocks me and she gave me nitroglycerin pills to take when I get chest pain but I do not know when to take them because I always have chest pain. Soooo confusing. Thank you so much for your help.

[erijon]

Their actions sound very resonable, they need to get in there and do an angiogram to see to what extent your heart is damaged and if there is any risk of further damage. The good news is thyat even though it's a little low, your EF% is not too bad so your heart is not hurt too terribly bad. It would be interesting to know what your abnormal EKG said as many EKGs show as abnormal as they are read by computers based on basic metrics. Mine shows abnormal for an incomplete right bundle branch blockage which is in all reality abnormal but still considered a normal variant.

You are young and if you are able to change the underlying factors that caused the heart attack I would think you'll be able to get through this in good shape.

Good luck with the angiogram.

Jon

[puglovernkellogg]

Thank you again for you help.  My resting ecg shows that I have tachycardia but I am not sure how to read this thing not sure why they can not just use plain english.  The Indication says coronary disease.  

[puglovernkellogg]

Hi Jon,

I also have an elevates sed rate of 60 which I have had for over a year now could that be caused by heart disease do you know?

[kenkeith]

Quote: "Can someone please tell me what a large anteroseptal infarct is and what anteroseptal wall akinesis that supports diognosis of infarct means?  ANd what is mild lateral wall ischemia?"

I'm not disputing Jon's comments ( providing another perspective) and everything said may be true, but there can be a significant difference between hypokinesis and akinesis.  Hypokinesis is usually referred to as diminished or abnormally slow movement, and as stated in the context of a heart problem that can indicate damaged heart cells.

Akinesis in the context with some stress tests can be motionless of heart wall movement and is attributed to the testing injection agent associated with the stress test and is temporary.  That could explain the 47% during the stress test and post test, it is in the normal range at 60%.

[puglovernkellogg]

Thank you for your perspective I appreciate it. I am going to see Cardiologist tomorrow and having the heart cath done on Wednesday so I hope I will find out what is going on!!