What is diastolic dysfunction grade 2?

[rtjrevie]

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

[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]

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.