need help understanding my echocardiogram results?

[HeartDinger]

I had an echo back in February and just got a letter with results

Letter states "this is largely reassuring with an EF of 60-65%, trivial MR, very mild AR, and normal LV size and function. There is trivial PR and trivial TR and normal LV wall thickness"

I'm assuming this is mostly good? My next test will be a 3 day ecg

[Steve_G]

LV is the left ventricle which pumps blood to you body and is super important. Damage to the LV can have a big impact. The EF, ejection fraction, or proportion of blood in the LV that gets pumped around the body is normal at 60 to 65%. The LV never completely empties so an EF of 100% doesn’t happen. There’s minor regurgitation (flow back) from the various valves around your heart that control the direction that blood flows in, MR (mitral regurgitation), TR (tricuspid regurgitation), etc. I’m no medic but would say the report sounds like they’ve seen nothing of concern.

[Sunnie2day]

My experience with 'trivial' - I don't think I'll ever forget my immediate joy at hearing my cardiologist term my aortic valve scarring 'trivial' early summer 2019. I honestly didn't hear another word he said that day and I floated to the car when the visit was over.

'Trivial' became my word-of-the-year because it meant 50+years after the illness that caused the scarring, the damage done was still so minimal as to be able to be termed 'trivial'.

Trivial in med-speak means 'Ok, it's there, but so far it's not a serious concern'.

I have an annual echo to monitor the scarring - I've been 'warned' one day I might well need an aortic valve replacement (AVR) if the scarring progresses.

Your EF is in the normal range - yippee!! And you can now do the Very Happy Dance over your 'trivial' diagnosis - but be sure plans are in place for you to be monitored. Sadly 'trivial' can go to 'moderate' and then 'serious' in a surprisingly short period of time so monitoring is a must. Hopefully your monitoring will be as happy as mine have been - still trivial in 2021 with absolutely NO progression.

[HeartDinger in reply to Sunnie2day]

thank you so much! I totally understand this. I used to be morbidly obese and lost 90lbs, I still have more to lose but meds I'm on cause weight issues so I'm getting off them slowly! So it's no surprise there's some minor issues there. I don't smoke or do drugs. I do like a drink but I have cut it out and will be only drinking occasionally! I think it's all been a wake up call that I need to treat my body the best I can! I'm only 28, I wanna live a full happy life! If you have any tips on maintaining heart health please let me know!

[Sunnie2day in reply to HeartDinger]

The best tips I can pass on are: stay active on this forum; educate yourself on your condition(s) reading only credible information from sites like the BHF, NHS, and a few American sites like the Mayo Clinic, the Cleveland Clinic, and Baylor Med (Texas, St Luke's Heart Hospital); always consulting with your medic when new or worsened symptoms appear - and then following the guidance given.

Oh oh oh do I empathise about certain heart meds causing weight gain - weight can that can be hard to shift If I don't walk at least 2 miles per day morning and night, I gain. If I can get through 5 miles twice a day I lose but when my heart conditions are playing up I sometimes feel quite lucky to make it from sofa to bathroom to bedroom and back.

Hang in there, it usually does get better although it doesn't always feel that way.