Explanation of test

[Dianakay]

60 yr old female, hypertension 20 years never well controlled with medication.  Recently had several episodes of pain in upper back and neck, shortness of breath and PVC's with elevated BP - mostly in evenings not with exercise. One was really bad and scary in the middle of the night only difference was my BP dropped very low but I didn't go to the hospital.  I had a stress echo which showed thickened heart walls, 50 to 60% EF, mild mitral regurgitation and trace tricuspid regurgitation.  Resting EKG shows sinus rhythm with possible anterior septal MI and nonspecific ST changes.

What does this all mean?  What should I do next? Thanks for your help.

[Nurseheart52]

Hello. SInce your EKG is showing a possible previous anterior septal MI and you are having sharp back and neck pain, you should be seeing a cardiologist as soon as you can. Your EF is at a pretty low level also, and the abnormal valves are also a concern. Your poorly controlled hypertension through the years may have caused alot of the valve and heart wall thickening with the resultant low EF results. Time to see a doctor if you don't already have an appt.  And if you start having that sharp neck and upper back pain, you should either call 911 or get to an ER immediately. It might help them to diagnose what is going on with you at the least-or stop another pending heart attack. Take this all seriously-you only have one heart!! Best of luck

[kenkeith]

An EKG is inconclusive as an EKG is not a very reliable source, but the results of the EKG output indicates some heart cell damage (anterior septal wall...location is wall that separates the heart chambers) from a prior myocardio infarction.  Worst case scenario from the episodes you experienced.

The echo indicates mild regurgitation, but almost always that is not unusual nor of any consequence.  If there is significant septal wall thickness or chamber wall thickness and scar tissue from an MI, there can be arrhythmia as a result.  Also, wall thickening can reduce the space available to fill during diastole (filling phase), and EF can be normal (55 to 75%) but cardiac output is reduced.  If the walls thicken significantly, the chamber will lose its elasticity and contractions will not be sufficient enough to pump an adequate amount of blood into cirdculation...but you don't have that problem at the present time.

You should be inconsultation with a cardiologist, and receive treatment to preserve the EF of the left ventricle...

[Barbarella]

Did you see a Cardiologist and what did he say about your test results?  If you haven't seen a Cardiologist make an appointment.  I had the same test results except for the "thickened heart walls", and I had to undergo more tests because the EKG spit out stuff like yours that wasn't there we later found out.