Results of echocardiogram.

[Alf01]

Had an echocardiogram after seeing cardiologist for suspected ectopic beats just to put my mind at rest. Results came back with thickening of septum wall, preserved LV function, ef of 68%. Normal diastolic function but ascending aorta dilated with a measurement of 3.33cm which was described as mildly larger than it should be, normal RV systolic function with non dilated chambers and no significant valvular abnormalities I am now being sent for MRI but could be waiting months due to Covid. Don't really understand what this means. Email left with cardiologist to get in touch with me but to no avail. Does this mean I have heart failure? So worried about it. No other symptoms only ectopics.

[Niki_]

I don’t know what all of it means but your EF of 68 is good! That means your heart of pumping well.

[Cat04]

I'm not medically trained so only speaking from experience of my own echoes.

LV = left ventricle

EF = ejection fraction

RV = right ventricle

I don't know the significance of the thickened septum but the rest I would be pleased to have on my results. The aorta as you say is mildly dilated which I'm sure someone will speak to you about if its a worry.

[Vanilla88]

You sound like your on a similar journey to myself with similar results. I’ve had my MRI and am having a CT scan in a few weeks. I am not an expert by any means but would suggest you have some very early signs of some changes to your heart health. What is important now is for you to recognise any changes you can make to help the team keep you well. Myself, I’ve changed diet to reduce unhealthy foods, keep salt intake to near to the 6g recommend amount as poss ( very challenging) I’ve cut out alcohol and I stay active, fortunately my job helps with this.

These changes have reduced my B.P. which has been identified as the cause of my problems. Is your BP above normal?

As you you get further into your diagnosis any changes you make now will have a massive positive effect on your health and possibly your treatment plan, meds etc.

[Alf01 in reply to Vanilla88]

I am on 3.75mg bisoprolol for high BP and ectopics. Have been on BP meds for years which I thought was controlled but suffering with anxiety doesn't help. I stopped alcohol about 2 years ago and eat quite healthily. Struggle stopping the chocolate though. I'm very active and walk most days. I did the couch to 5k back in November 2020 and would like to pick it up again but frightened to now in case I'm doing more harm than good. Thank you for your response.

[Cliff_G]

Hi Alf, sorry, only just seen this.

It does sound like your heart is pretty much ok. No indication if heart failure.

The mildly dilated aorta is probably what you are having the MRI for, as echo can't see all of the aorta - MRI is also more accurate. What this sounds like to me is that you probably don't have much of an issue, but they are, very wisely in my view, taking no chances, and are checking what they found by accurate 3D imaging, and checking the rest of the aorta too. The 3.3 cm ascending size is, as they say, only mildly dilated. Only if it got to, say 4.0 to 4.5 cm or more, would anyone be concerned on the traditional criterion of just diameter. Monitoring is, however, getting more sophisticated than just diameter, and they can look at things like the diameter and length together using an MRI image.

There are other aspects to it, too, but you sound to be under good care, so they should keep you in the picture. Keep your blood pressure under good control.

You may find magnesium supplementation helps reduce the ectopics, aroung 400 mg per day of magnesium as the element. Use magnesium citrate or similar, but not magnesium oxide, which is not absorbed. Dr Sanjay Gupta, York Cardiology, has some Youtube videos about this. I've certainly found it helped me.

Good luck