Afib and ejection fraction

[Biglad1]

Can the ejection fraction be lowered because of afib?? Ended up with it 4yrs ago after covid like illness which they said was pneumonia because hadn't become known at that point but all my symptoms were identical & i ended up in icu for 10days. I don't have any symptoms (flutters or pounding) & can walk up to 5miles and don't feel like I have it. My ef ef is 38-39% I need it be over 40 to regain my hgv licence entitlement

[etheral]

Most definitely. Because of afib an inconsistent amount of blood is received by the left ventrical resulting in less output during systoly and a lower EF. etheral

[Red1183]

EF can be affected by A-fib especially if you've experienced structural changes in your heart as a result. My EF was a little lower than normal but actually improved once I had an ablation. I was 35 at the time, so that was a factor. Keep your chin up.

[Ppiman]

I've read that coronaviruses have been around for very many years, perhaps forever, and have always been able to cause sometimes very severe symptoms such as pneumonia, ARDS and other inflammatory conditions. Covid-19 is a new variant of the same virus that appeared sometime late in 2019, hence its name.

If it was the pneumonia virus that also led to a lowered EF, then, if I were you, I'd want some kind of investigation to look at the heart muscle to see if the ventricles were affected at all. This can be done in a few ways, but MRI scanning seems the most successful. Have you had any tests like this? I guess you had some echo scans to know your EF?

Steve

[Biglad1 in reply to Ppiman]

No none just an an echocardiogram to check ef

[Ppiman in reply to Biglad1]

I think an echo is the most a cardiologist would usually do unless there’s a reason to investigate the heart muscle itself for changes with other scans like MRI or CT. I think the usual healthy ejection fraction is between 50-65%. I gather that AF can reduce this if it weakens the left ventricle in some way, which I think is unusual and would be a question for your doctor.

Many other viruses than covid can cause similar symptoms such as pneumonia and ARDS - the flu for instance.

Steve

[Biglad1 in reply to Ppiman]

It wasn't the flu the loss of taste and smell took nearly 6month to fet anywhere near ok

[Ppiman in reply to Biglad1]

Sounds weird and pretty dire - bad luck.

Steve

[localad]

ventricles only fed by gravity rather than pumped by atria, during AF ......so likely EF would be affected?

[Walkingballer]

exactly that buddy. I had worse EF when they found the a fib… but after a cardioversion… had an MRI and absolutely normal now. Two years clear. I have upped my physical activity massively as well tbf

[Biglad1 in reply to Walkingballer]

Was it permanent af??

[Walkingballer in reply to Biglad1]

obviously not LT as the shock sorted it…. But it had been 24/7 for several months/years. I wasn’t very well. It was the heart failure that brought it all to light. But the key was that I managed to regain sinus rhythm. It dropped back into Afib once when I had Covid but dropped back in rhythm after 3 hours with no intervention. I’m also on a cocktail of 6 pills a day to keep it all tidy but I play sport everyday… tennis/ walking football/ gym / golf and big dog walks

[Walkingballer in reply to Walkingballer]

I’m no gym bunny though… still technically obese… but not morbidly… maybe I should work harder

[Biglad1 in reply to Walkingballer]

On about giving me cardioversion and putting me on amiodarone. Already on bisoprolol digoxin entresto bumetanide eplerenone and farxiga eliquis

[Walkingballer in reply to Biglad1]

cardioversion is good… very easy … 20 mins over….painless and no consequences … And the delight when they tell you it’s back in rhythm is priceless… good luck.,

[2learn]

hi, didn't know EF could be affected by AF, none of my cardio medics ever said that. However, my low EF was a result of leaky heart valves, a heart scan can reveal leaks, then someone who knows their job, which my local cardios didn't, can do calculations to work out accurate EF.