What Do The Numbers Mean
Ejection Fraction 55% to 70%
- Pumping Ability of the Heart: Normal.
- Level of Heart Failure/Effect on Pumping: Heart function may be normal or you may have heart failure with preserved EF .
Ejection Fraction 40% to 54%
- Pumping Ability of the Heart: Slightly below normal.
- Level of Heart Failure/Effect on Pumping: Less blood is available so less blood is ejected from the ventricles. There is a lower-than-normal amount of oxygen-rich blood available to the rest of the body. You may not have symptoms.
Ejection Fraction 35% to 39%
- Pumping Ability of the Heart: Moderately below normal.
- Level of Heart Failure/Effect on Pumping: Mild heart failure with reduced EF .
Ejection Fraction Less than 35%
- Pumping Ability of the Heart: Severely below normal.
- Level of Heart Failure/Effect on Pumping: Moderate-to-severe HF-rEF. Severe HF-rEF increases risk of life-threatening heartbeats and cardiac dyssynchrony/desynchronization .
Normal Heart. A normal left ventricular ejection fraction ranges from 55% to 70%. An LVEF of 65%, for example means that 65% of total amount of blood in the left ventricle is pumped out with each heartbeat. Your EF can go up and down, based on your heart condition and how well your treatment works.
HF-pEF. If you have HF-pEF, your EF is in the normal range because your left ventricle is still pumping properly. Your doctor will measure your EF and may check your heart valves and muscle stiffness to see how severe your heart failure is.
Lab And Imaging Tests Are Important In Diagnosing Heart Failure
Your doctor may suspect heart failure after talking with you and examining you. If so, the doctor may want you to have some diagnostic tests. There are many options. These five are the most common tests:
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EKG;. This will show whether your heart beats at a normal rhythm. It can also show whether the walls of your heart are thicker than normal.
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Chest X-ray. This can show whether your heart is enlarged, which is a sign of heart failure. The heart enlarges to compensate for reduced ability to pump blood. The X-ray also will show any fluid that’s in your lungs.
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BNP blood test. This checks the level of a specific hormonebrain natriuretic peptidein your blood. Despite its name, your heart makes this peptide. The level is greater in people with some types of heart failure.
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Echocardiogram. The test creates a moving picture of your heart. Like a chest X-ray, it shows whether your heart is enlarged. It also will show whether your heart is pumping blood like it should be.
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Exercise stress test. This checks how your heart works when it’s under stress. That means it has to beat fast. You’ll probably do some sort of exercise for this test, such as running on a treadmill. People who can’t exercise may take a drug to make their heart beat fast during the test.
It’s important to find out if you have heart failure. There’s no cure for heart failure, but treatment can slow down its progression. You can get symptoms under control and lead a healthy, more active life.
What Happens During A Stress Echocardiogram
Before your stress echo, a technician will gently rub several small areas on your chest and place electrodes on these areas. The electrodes are attached to an EKG that charts your heart’s electrical activity during the test.
If you are getting a stress test with medication, an IV will be put into a vein in your arm so medication can be delivered directly into your bloodstream. The technician will perform a resting EKG, measure your resting heart rate, and take your blood pressure. The doctor or nurse will put the medication into the IV while the technician continues to get echo images. The medication will cause your heart to react as if you were exercising.
At regular intervals, the lab personnel will ask how you are feeling. Tell them if you feel chest, arm, or jaw pain or discomfort; short of breath; dizzy; lightheaded; or if you have any other unusual symptoms.
The lab personnel will watch for any changes on the EKG that suggest the test should be stopped. The IV will be removed from your arm once all of the medication has entered your bloodstream.
The medication may cause a warm, flushing feeling and in some cases, a mild headache. If you begin to notice these or other symptoms of concern like chest discomfort, shortness of breath, or irregular heartbeats, tell the lab personnel immediately.
The appointment will take about 60 minutes.
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The Earliest Symptoms Of Heart Failure Are Often Very Subtle But It’s Dangerous To Ignore Them
It’s an unfortunate truth that your body slows down in your sixth and seventh decades. Climbing a flight of stairs that you once took two at a time can now feel as daunting as scaling Mount Everest. While some degree of vitality loss can be attributed to natural aging, fatigue and breathlessness may also be signals that your heart is not functioning as well as it should. “There is a general tendency for people to ignore heart failure symptoms and attribute them to just getting older. Therefore, it was very important for us to create an easy way to identify those symptoms,” says Dr. Mandeep R. Mehra, medical director of the Heart and Vascular Center at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
FACES of heart failure
Heart failure occurs when something damages the heart muscle or reduces the heart’s ability to pump effectively. Most often, the damage stems from coronary artery disease or heart attack. But faulty heart valves, longstanding high blood pressure, or genetic disease may also be to blame. No matter what the cause, the failing heart can no longer pump well enough to keep up with the body’s demand for oxygen-rich blood.
To help both doctors and patients quickly spot a possible combination of heart failure symptoms, the Heart Failure Society of America developed a handy tool that goes by the acronym FACES.
F = Fatigue.;When the heart can’t pump enough oxygen-rich blood to meet the body’s energy needs, a general feeling of tiredness or fatigue sets in.
How Common Is Heart Failure
About 920,000 people in the UK currently have heart failure.There are around 67,000 admissions to hospital for heart failure in England and Wales each year. Heart failure becomes more common as people become older. It is commonly diagnosed in people in their 70s. In the UK around one in seven people aged 85 or more have heart failure. In people aged 65-74, around one in 35 have heart failure.
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Risk Factors And Symptoms
Risk factors for cardiomyopathy and heart failure include a family history of coronary artery disease, a previous heart attack, excessive alcohol consumption, drug abuse, and obesity. Certain conditions can also increase risk, including high blood pressure, diabetes, thyroid disorders, a buildup of iron in the heart muscle, and sarcoidosis, which causes inflammation in the bodys organs. Cancer treatments, including radiation and certain types of chemotherapy, may also increase a persons risk.
In its earliest stages, cardiomyopathy and heart failure may not cause noticeable symptoms. However, as the condition progresses, a person may experience fatigue or shortness of breath, especially with physical exertion. They may also have swelling of the legs, feet, and abdomen, which occurs when the body overproduces fluid in response to a reduction in blood pumped from the heart. Other symptoms include heart palpitations or lightheadedness caused by irregular heartbeats, or arrhythmias.
Stress Ekg Or Echocardiogram
Stress tests are performed to see how the heart performs under physical stress. The heart can be stressed with exercise on a treadmill or in a few instances, a bicycle. If a person cannot exercise on a treadmill or bicycle, medications can be used to cause the heart rate to increase, simulating normal reactions of the heart to exercise.
During the stress test, you will wear EKG leads and wires while exercising so that the electrical signals of your heart can be recorded at the same time. Your blood pressure is monitored throughout the test. The stress test can be performed together with the echocardiogram, described above.
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Undergoing Tests For Heart Failure
Congestive Heart Failure: Prevention Treatment And Research
Congestive heart failure is a serious condition in which the heart doesnt pump blood as efficiently as it should. Despite its name,;heart failure;doesnt mean that the heart has literally failed or is about to stop working. Rather, it means that the heart muscle has become less able to contract over time or has a mechanical problem that limits its ability to fill with blood. As a result, it cant keep up with the bodys demand, and blood returns to the heart faster than it can be pumped outit becomes congested, or backed up. This pumping problem means that not enough oxygen-rich blood can get to the bodys other organs.
The body tries to compensate in different ways. The heart beats faster to take less time for refilling after it contractsbut over the long run, less blood circulates, and the extra effort can cause heart palpitations. The heart also enlarges a bit to make room for the blood. The lungs fill with fluid, causing shortness of breath. The kidneys, when they dont receive enough blood, begin to retain water and sodium, which can lead to kidney failure. With or without treatment, heart failure is often and typically progressive, meaning it gradually gets worse.
More than 5 million people in the United States have congestive heart failure. Its the most common diagnosis in hospitalized patients over age 65. One in nine deaths has heart failure as a contributing cause.
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What Happens During An Echocardiogram
Youâll be given a hospital gown to wear. Youâll be asked to remove your clothing from the waist up. A cardiac sonographer will place three electrodes on your chest. The electrodes are attached to an electrocardiography monitor that charts your heart’s electrical activity.
The technician will ask you to lie on your left side on an exam table. They will place a wand on several areas of your chest. The wand will have a small amount of gel on the end.
Sounds are part of the Doppler signal. You may or may not hear the sounds during the test. You may be asked to change positions several times so the technician can take pictures of different areas of your heart.
You should feel no major discomfort during the test. You may feel coolness from the gel on the transducer and a slight pressure of the transducer on your chest.
The test will take about 40 minutes. After the test, you can get dressed and go back to your daily activities.
Common Tests For Heart Failure
If you suspect you have symptoms of heart failure you should talk to your doctor .
Your doctor will likely perform a thorough examination of your body and will ask you about your symptoms, your medical history and your lifestyle. It is important that you answer any questions as honestly and accurately as possible so that your doctor can make an accurate diagnosis and can work with you to find the best treatment.
If your doctor suspects you have heart failure he or she will probably suggest you have certain tests. These tests will help to show whether your heart is working properly and, if not, where the problem lies.
This section explains the tests your doctor may want you to have and what the test can show. Click on any of the tests to learn more.
The most common tests are:
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Claire Berouche’s life changed in ways she could never have imagined following a family afternoon at the cinema. Claire was given the shock news that she had suffered a heart attack and subsequently heart failure which is irreversible. Hear her story and other real experiences from people living with heart and circulatory diseases.
Common Tests For Congenital Heart Defects
To ensure you receive the best appropriate care, you cardiologist may recommend a series of tests to measure your heart’s function. Before completing any of the following tests, the cardiology staff will discuss with you what the test entails and what it measures. Once the test is completed, your cardiologist will explain the results and whether future care is needed.
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Afib & Heart Attacks: The Causes
Atrial fibrillation is a specific kind of heart arrhythmia in which the upper chambers of the heart get out of sync with the lower ventricles. This is usually caused by a misfiring electrical impulse or some other stimulus. When the heart gets out of sync, it can cause all kinds of discomfort and pain. Fortunately, in the early stages, the heart will get back in sync with itself on its own, leaving the person feeling better.
Heart attacks, on the other hand, are a vascular problem. Heart attacks happen when blood flow to the heart is blocked. Without blood, heart tissue doesnt get the oxygen it needs and begins to die. In this case, the issue is not with the heart itself, but the blood vessels that bring blood into the heart.
Diagnostic Tests And Procedures
This animation;discusses some of the;tests;used to;diagnose heart failure. These tests may include;an electrocardiogram to look at your hearts electrical;activity, an echocardiogram;to measure;how well your heart is working;and;look at the;structure, and a;chest X-ray to see if your;heart is enlarged or there is fluid in your lungs. Other tests may include blood tests and an exercise, or stress test.;.;
Blood tests;
Your doctor may order blood tests;to;check the levels;of;certain molecules, such as;brain natriuretic peptide;.;These levels;rise;during heart failure.;Blood tests can also show how well your liver and your kidneys are working.;
Tests to;measure;your ejection fraction;
Your doctor may order an;echocardiography;;or other imaging tests;to measure your ejection fraction. Your ejection fraction is the;percent;of;the;blood;in;the;lower left chamber;of your heart; that is pumped;out of your heart;with each heartbeat.;Ejection fraction;tells;your doctor how well your heart;pumps. This helps;your doctor;diagnose;the type of heart failure you have;and guide your treatment.;
- If 40% or less;of the blood in your left ventricle is pumped out in one beat, you;have heart failure with reduced ejection fraction.;
- If 50% or more;of the blood in your left ventricle is pumped out in one beat, you have heart failure with preserved ejection fraction.;
If your ejection fraction is somewhere in between ,;you may be diagnosed with;heart failure with borderline ejection fraction.;
Other tests;
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How Are Blood Tests Performed
Blood tests may be performed in a lab or providers office.1-2 They are a typical part of a routine exam. Sometimes blood tests are done before you eat for the day, after an 8-12 hour fast. Samples of blood are drawn by a needle from a vein in the arm into test tubes which are then analyzed by a lab for the levels of specific components.2
What Is The Difference Between Heart Failure And Heart Attack
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It is a known fact that cardiovascular diseases such as heart attack, coronary heart disease, etc., can cause serious health risks. When it comes to heart failure and heart attack, both medical conditions are related but are not the same. Oftentimes, people get confused with these two terms and use them incorrectly. While the causes and effects of both conditions are the same, they are distinct health issues. Let us understand how heart failure and heart attack differ from one another.
What is the Difference Between Heart Failure and heart attack?
Heart failure, also known as congestive heart failure, is a chronic medical condition. This means that this issue develops slowly over a long period. Heart failure is said to occur when the heart muscle fails to pump enough blood to meet the demands of the body. Narrowed coronary arteries with high blood pressure make the heart weak, blocked or stiff due to which there is improper pumping of blood.
A heart attack occurs due to the blockage of arteries by fatty deposits known as plaques. Formation of blood clot due to the rupture of plaques further blocks the arteries. This may often lead to a heart attack. It is also known as myocardial infarction that occurs suddenly. In some cases, parts of the heart muscles die due to lack of blood supply. This health condition can be fatal if immediate medical attention is not available for the patient.
What are the causes of Heart Failure and Heart Attack?
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