Teenager with ef of 45

[weisse1]

My son was told today that he has an ef of 45 and it is the left side of his heart. He is 19 years old. Over the last 6 months or so he has lost quite a bit of weight which was of concern to me and his mother. He complained about funny feeling in his heart. Now we find this out. We are besides ourselves as to what the future brings for him. Any insight or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Jonathan D. Rich, MD]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

Please allow me to begin my apologizing for this exceedingly late response.  There was a technical issue that led to me not seeing this post until now.  

Regarding your son, I have to imagine that you are all very scared.  Perhaps by now you have received some answers from the cardiologist you are seeing.  The second most important thing you can do is o "take a deep breath".  Everything will get sorted out. I do not have nearly enough information to provide you with a diagnosis or even thoughts about treatments, etc. at this time however.

So what is the MOST important thing you can do?  Make sure you are seeing a cardiologist who you feel comfortable with and whom you trust.  Despite not having a lot of information, I feel confident that whatever is going on can be diagnosed and effectively treated.

Please let me know if I can be of further help.

Best,

Dr. Rich

[weisse1]

My son also feels like he has arrhythmia. The doctor hasn't stated that this is the case. We see the cardiologist tomorrow.