New Tests...

[Mom2four85]

Ok heart guru's - pick apart my new tests vs my old test results....if my EF is what it says, I'll eat my hat! lol   I know my echo said my ef was 55-60% in 2009, but my cardiac catherization a month later showed it was really 40% and I was told cath was the "gold standard".

Now I have even more questions...why are my echo's technically difficult? thick skin, I have trouble breathing, larger breasts, obesity, technician insufficiency? lol

why not send me for another type of test since they know Echo's on my are difficult? what other types of tests are there that will not be technically difficult but not invasive like a catherization? (yes I will ask my cardiologist about all of this at my next appt)

Echocardiogram - this is a technically difficult study

3/17/2011
LVEDD       46.2mm [35-56]
LVESD       27.4 mm [27.4]
Left atrium  30.5 mm [19-40]
LVIS          12.3  [8-12]
LV posterior wall 12.5 mm [8/12]
Aortic Root 31.2 mm [26-36]
EF 71%
Aortic Valve Velocity 1.30m/s

LVH
Mitral valve regurgitation
Tricuspid valve regurgitation with a peak velocity of 1.76 m/s w/peak gradient of 12.3 mmHG
Estimated PA pressure is 22.3 mmHG

7/6/2009 Echocardiogram results:
LVEDD      44 (35-57)
LVESD      36 (23 - 40)
Left atrium 39 (19-40)
LVIS         12  (6-11)
LV posterior wall 11 (6-11)
Ascending Aorta 29 (21 - 34)

Mild Tricuspid insufficency
Trace Mitral valve in sufficency
Pulmonic valve was not well visualized due to a technically difficult 2D echo
Mild Concentric left ventricular hypertropy  with EF rate of 55 - 60%
Dilated left atrium with normal left atrial pressures
LV diastolic function: E/A 1.0, DT a140 msec, E' 10/cm/sec E/E' 8

2/4/2011 EKG
Vent Rate:          81
PR Interval          134
QRSD                106  
QT/QTc              374/411
P/QRS/T Axes   26/58/25

8/28/2009 Cardiac Catherization
Hemodynamic assessments demonstrates mild systemic hypertension and moderately elevated LVEDP.
The coronary circulation is co-dominant.  There was no angiographic evidence for CAD.

EF: 40%
Aortic Pressure (S/D/M) 120/70/90
Left Ventricle (s/edp) 120/34

any thoughts, suggestions, comments?

[Mom2four85]

I'm not celebrating quite yet...I have a ton of questions I'm going to talk to my cardiologist... I still question echo standards and protocols...it's that "one size fits all" and I'm going to question this when I go back because I still have all the same symptoms..nothing has changed, except I'm on Inderal daily and NO salt/fluid loading.

I never thought I had PVC induced cardiomyopathy :P  My cardiac cath said I had non ischemic CM but they didn't know what caused it...don't know why there was such a difference in my Echo to my Cath 1 month later.  

Besides, as I quote enough - pvc induced cardiomyopathy in most instances does reverse with treatment heheheh

I thought normal PA was 12–16 mm Hg? with 25 being Pulmonary hypertension.

Still more questions and concerns...why did my LVIS thicken by another .3
and LV posterior wall by another 1.5; while my EF supposedly is high now at 71%?

Their "normals" were a bit higher than my last doctor also and if you look on echo standards in my profile - those normals they give are off base with other standard protocols.

I'm going to ask in the expert forum also, see if they have any insight also.  thanks for the response =)

[is_something_wrong]

I see from your EKG your QT seem normalized too. I know heart failure causes prolonged QT, could it be that you are actually getting cured?:)

[is_something_wrong]

Lisa, your echo results are awesome!!:) I don't know how the regurgitation is measured and what the normal values are though. You have borderline LV concentric remodellation/hypertrophy but at EF 71% and FS 40% you don't have PVC induced cardiomyopathy! Your PA pressure is normal.

Do you have an EKG from that consultation? Don't know why the test was difficult, could have something to do with where the heart is positioned in your chest? This would also explain the low voltage QRS. Could have something to do with lung size and breathing too? Don't know:(

But I would guess this result is far better than the previous ones:)