I have a hereditary condition that can affect your heart so I have to have 5 yearly Echocardiograms in Leeds. I had one on Monday & as always I asked the technician how it looked. She said that she wasn't a doctor but everything was normal. This is my 4th Echo & each time the technician has given me a good idea of the results.
My Father who is 61 & also has the same condition as me had his first Echo today. I told him to ask for his results which he did. Apparently the technician also had his supervisor with him so maybe the technician was training? Anyway, when asked for his results the technician said to my father that he would write the results up but not to worry. This has me worrying now as I am sure if everything was normal he would have said that to my Father?
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bflare
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Hi bflare. I know how you are feeling. The last time I went for an Echocardiogram, person doing it called for someone else for a second opinion, never had that before, and then I thought 'What is going on here'??? When I asked, what was wrong, that's all I was told was that I had a very interesting case....! They also said, it was more than their Job was worth to tell the Patients the results and HAD to go back to the Consultant. Seeing him early July, (I am waiting for Surgery), and just thinking I hope to God they haven't found anything else. Best of Luck.
If they'd found something 'urgent' surely they would have admitted you on the spot, so whatever it is that made you interesting, it was something(s) they felt you could cope with until your next appointment with the consultant.
Glad you only have until early July to see the consultant, I'd be burning up with 'what ifs' and you probably are as well!
Especially with a supervisor in the room, so I'd feel comfortable about not worrying too much whilst awaiting the consultant's determination. When is your dad's appointment with the consultant?
I used to go with my dad to all his appointments - it's not at all easy not to worry, I wish medics would learn to say 'I don't see anything to be worried about while you wait to see the consultant' instead of that easier said than done ambiguous 'Don't worry'!
I am not too sure when his appointment is. He is under a Rheumatologist who requested the Echo. My dad came back from living in Italy at the end of last year. He came back due to his poor mobility. We have the same condition but I pushed for a diagnosis 12 years ago when my son was born who I suspected may have the condition.
My Dad never pushed for a diagnosis & stuck his head in the ground until he started with mobility issues. I have been to all his appointments up until this one as I had to take my son to school. But, yeah I think they need to really think about things from a patients point of view. Just a few carefully crafted words can go a long way to comforting someone.
Well I've been told that I have a 'Musical Murmur' apart from the other stuff. I'm Welsh, and it is seen as the 'Land of Song' but what is that??? I was afraid to ask lol 😊😊
That song was the beginning of my lifelong history addiction - I 'identify' (oh I love the 21st century, hrmph) as Scottish and Scotland the Brave is a stirring tune, but Men of Harlech was and is the one that raises the hair on my arms every time I hear it.
Mum was born and brought up near Bangor (Gwenyyd, north-west). Her family had been there forever until my generation came along - we're the first who never lived there, only visited and when the grandparents passed away the family holding was sold.
My father and all his (except my German great-gran from Hesse) were NE Scottish (Kildonan, on the Caithness-Sutherland border). My parents met during WWII - lol, in of all places, the US Army post Ft Richardson, Alaska! Too long a story to tell, suffice it to say they were there as part of the Allied effort - they were there when the Japanese invaded the Aleutians, Mum barely made it back to the Lower 48 and then back to Britain, Dad was wounded by the Japanese, made it back to Britain just in time for the run-up to D-Day.
Aww right. North Wales then. Only ever been there once, (Llangollen), and that was years ago. I've been to Scotland, Edinburgh, and loved it. Very friendly people
Me my husband are invading Edinburgh, Inverness and parts of Loch Ness then Alford Aberdeenshire where I will calm down under the watchful eye of my cousin.. love Scotland hate politics lol. Sheena
Tech lady explained the results of my echo at the time, she was very good and showed me the leaky valve on the screen. Previous echo at a different hospital I was also told results at the time.
I think they must - I'm in NE Scotland, my recent echo was conducted with me lying so I could see the monitor. The most the tech felt able to say on being asked 'Does scarring show up as opaque but not 'cloudy'?' was how to recognise scarring, her answer was '...in general, scarring will show up as a bright white opacity...' and she turned the monitor to give me a better view of the screen (and I had some). When she was finished about a half hour later she said 'I don't see anything urgent to admit you so you can go home.'
My friend in Devon says her echo tech usually tells her if there are any changes but doesn't go into detail, and she's usually (but not always) placed with her back to the monitor during the echo.
Better than in the US at my annual echos - there I was told first thing 'Don't ask because I can't tell, the cardiologist will review your scan and let you know the results.' And I was always placed with my back to the monitor so I never could see the screens.
Hi....at my recent echocardiogram, I asked and was told that he had taken lots of pictures that needed to be measured and it would take an hour. So the results will be sent to consultant. I have a friend who is a radiographer and I asked him why some tell and some don't (on any scans etc). He said that some are qualified to do so and some are not 😊
Thanks for the reply. My Dad did say there were two of them a young guy & a lady supervisor so I am assuming the young guy was maybe training or in his early stage of his career. Hopefully this is why he didn't offer any more information.
I had a stress echo after a heart attack and believe it or not the technician told me I had an enlarged heart and with medication I would probably have a normal life, obviously that really worried me, so I asked my gp, he said he thinks they are qualified enough to read the echo enough to give me an idea, fast forward about 3 months a hoilter and cardiac mri later, I finialy see my cardiologist and I ask him, he says don’t listen to anyone apart from your cardiologist because they are no where near qualified to read echo’s etc, all they are qualified to do is make sure the tests are done properly and all the info is recorded what was asked for by the cardiologist, then he can read it and interpret the results, all they are doing is giving you an untrained prognosis similar to what you get on the internet, so after that I promised myself to never ever ask a technician’s opinion again and I would advise anyone else to do the same, and by the way I didn’t have an enlarged heart
That’s exactly right, I spent months worrying for nothing, the technician does the test and his job is to make sure everything is recorded what’s asked for, the supervisor supervises the technician, the patient, the test itself to make sure everything goes according to plan, to be able to read the results takes a lifetime of medical training, everyone knows how much studying is involved to become a doctor/cardiologist etc, unfortunately you have to wait for a cardiologist to read the results, even though the nhs saved my life and do a cracking job, results can take some time, if you was an emergency case the cardiologist would check the results to make sure there’s nothing immediately life threatening, if not, then you would have to wait for your appointment with your cardiologist like everybody else👍🏻
I recently had an echo at the Hospital I attend for my Heart Failure, which was requested by the Cardiologist who is the Heart Failure lead. Now the Consultant who does/did an Intervention on my LAD wanted one ( different Hospital same Trust ). When I phoned the Hospital Dept and said I had just had one done they told me. " He won't accept that he will want his own one doing " Which maybe indicates they look for different thing on an Echo ! that may be why they don't tell the results? I did ask are the results computer generated and the technician did say a lot of it is, but also manual interpretation is carried out after the echo.
I had my annual comparative echo yesterday .after a very thorough prod and poke , she showed me my comparison on the screen..no change in the heart at all BUT as im now in AF the blood plumes looked very odd.
now I need to find a way of sending the results to the team at the hospital that is treating my AF
Perhaps the recent scan you had doesn't show what the AF team needs (at least in the scan unit opinion). Will your AF team order an echocardiogram now for you based on their needed views (seems such a waste of NHS time and money but again, maybe the scan you've just had doesn't show what the AF team needs?)?
The AF team got me a nice shiny MRI but also an angiogram (which showed clear arteries) they did an echo at my bedside with a 15 year old portable machine ,,,the operator said he could not see much ...still the 5 tick box photocopy sheet was all nicely filled out ...and on tuesday i have a meeting with an anaesthetist regarding cardiaversion
oh to any spelling nazis reading this I HAVE spellchecked it and dont see any ambiguities
My husband has annual ( though they slip a bit) echos for aortic valve disease.(has had MI stents and in perm AF) He has not seen a cardiologist since discharged in 2013. Recently saw GP re swollen ankles (also has periph arterial disease) and a bit of breathlessness. She thought last echo 2012 until he told her and she said last echo 2018 "fine" but has requested another as he ended up in A and E with chest pain but nothing found to suggest MI
To be fair to the technician they are not supposed to give out info so the usual response is everything looks fine. Leeds is the Yorkshire Heart Centre and they have multidisciplinary teams to look over results before informing patients if there are any problems. I wish I’d been taken there I’d have been seen a lot quicker than I was. It’s very easy to worry about results and we don’t live in a perfect world. Try not to worry. Be positive.
Well the technician did say at the end of his answer "But not to worry" Surely that is as good as the answer you were given? On the other hand and just to play the devils advocate - you went for an Echo, the technician said all appeared to be well and a week later and the consultant discloses a serious problem to you - do you drop the technician in the soup, complain about the standards? Ask for another opinion since the technician said there was nothing wrong?
You know as well as anyone else that there is a well oiled procedure that occurs after any sort of test where a technician says nothing. They are not trained to give consultations regarding results. Doctors do that. They are damned if they do and damned if they do not, with yours as a typical reaction. Take what the technician said in good faith, they mean well but they could be wrong - but again, unless they are stupid, would not commit themselves if there was anything glaringly wrong.
I truly feel sorry for the technicians - x-ray to Echo - for I am sure they all get asked the same questions every hour of the day, but we all think we are the only patient they are seeing and a no commitment is their way of getting back at us - perhaps? Not you? Well done!
I think the non-committal bit is more along the lines of combining not scaring patients unnecessarily plus protecting oneself (the tech being the 'oneself') against push-back when tech supplied answers re findings are wrong.
I had an echocardiogram on the 4 May just gone, a Myxoma showed up clearly on the scan. I was kept in and then transferred over to the LGI where I had the tumour removed on the 12 May. Both my daughters are going for echocardiograms, one today and the other next Tuesday because Myxoma’s can be hereditary. Leeds is one of the best hospitals there is so I doubt very much that anything would be overlooked.
Personally I would be reassured if someone had told me not to worry 🙂
I was told that EF on an echo is a little bit hit and miss the only way to get an accurate EF is on an MRI scan !! mind you I think the Hit and Miss bit may only be 5% on way or the other.
Yes, I agree. I think it is partly down to how well the tech draws his lines round the pictures! I've had the same tech a couple of times, so those results are probably comparable.
The last time I had an echocardiogram the technician called for the consultant to come. They were talking about keeping me in until I told them that I had had bypass surgery years before. They decided that that was causing whatever discrepancy they found. So, if they haven't kept you in it is probably not too bad.
When I asked, the technician said they need time to work out the results but if any obvious problems they would alert someone right away & was reassured OK to go home. The problem I find is that results are only communicated to the patient if they are abnormal. I only found mine out because I am on a clinical trial and research nurse snuck a look at them for me.
When I go for my yearly check up with the usual weigh and blood pressure check ecg and then I have echo and then speak with consultant and they tell me the echo looks good and then send the results in a letter aswell. Sometimes don't tell me how it went once I went for an emergency echo well complete check up and I had the echo and the consultant was asked to come in to look and she started saying things I didn't understand to the technician doing the echo and then I found out they thought I needed valve replacement surgery only to then be told few weeks later that it was probably my chest infection causing my issues so that was a confusing and worrying time.
I'm sure everything is fine hope your dad isn't waiting too long for results.
Hope this post makes sense as I am half asleep posting this lol take care! ❤️
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