2007-01-13 12:09:13 · 4 answers · asked by rubyred 2 in Health ➔ Diseases & Conditions ➔ Heart Diseases
It could mean the strength of the contraction is half of what is should be- many do fine at half capacity- but it is only part of the problem- and could be related to a heart attack and the heart muscle is damaged or CHF and the heart muslce has thinned out- so cause matters-D- Rn
2007-01-13 12:54:57 · answer #1 · answered by Debby B 6 · 5⤊ 0⤋
I suspect that this assessment is based on a value called "ejection fraction." Roughly - the ejection fraction is a relative efficiency rating on your heart's left ventricle - the final chamber that ejects blood out of the heart and into your arteries. For various reasons the ejection fraction can be reduced from normal. (scar tissue from a heart attack, arrhythmias, ischemic and nonischemic cardiomyopathy, and valvular dysfunction are among them.)
A normal ejection fraction is between 50 and 70%. To be working at half capacity, yours would have to be at 25%. Despite this sounding pretty terrible, many people get along very well with an EF of 25%. I have patients who are holding down jobs with 15% EF. There are medical therapies that can improve a reduced EF substantially. Also if there is a cause and correction to the cause that can be identified, then that will improve the condition.
With EF's consistently less than 30% on idealized medical therapy for longer than three months, the MADIT II trial recommends that an indwelling defibrillator be implanted in patients who otherwise have a life expectancy of greater than three years. Defibrillators are electronic devices that deliver a therapeutic shock to re-set your heart if it were ever to go into a potentially fatal rhythm, like ventricular tachycardia.
One last note is that EF's can vary depending on the imaging used to estimate it and who's reading the imaging. Correlation with clinical symptoms is important to be sure decisions are not being made entirely based on the result of a echocardiogram.
I hope this helps. Good luck.
2007-01-13 21:53:17 · answer #2 · answered by c_schumacker 6 · 1⤊ 3⤋
it means your heart is not working like it should. my father had that and died. it will have been a year on March 18th.
2007-01-13 20:22:16 · answer #3 · answered by tweetybird37406 6 · 3⤊ 1⤋
you are very ill is what it means
2007-01-13 20:16:39 · answer #4 · answered by undercovernudist 6 · 3⤊ 1⤋