Grade 1 diastolic dysfunction

[pippy164]

Can anyone anyone help me please?

1) Is grade 1 diastolic dysfunction the same as LVH?
2) Can it be treated to stop progression?
3) What is the cause of either or both?

Many thanks for any input.

[pippy164]

Hi Jon

Thanks for your reply to my posting.  One hospital says I have LVH and the other  reports diastolic dysfunction.  I also have a mild hole in heart and recurrent TIAs,  cause not known.  I do my own BP at home and I am within the normal range, if not quite low at times 90/48. I am getting symptoms ie giddy, breathless and high heart rates (239 highest) I recently had a stress heart echo (6 mins) and did not perform well after the test, whereby my heart rate shot up very high and I went giddy and shook a lot.  This happened 3 times over a 30 min period.  I have not had an opportunity to to talk to Cardiologist and having to wait until June!!  I seem to have a lot of issues and I cannot work out what is going on and what is the main one. I have been to my GP and he is on the case now. I wish to be armed with as much information as I do not want to be fobbed off.

[erijon]

Grade 1 diastolic dysfunction is not the same as LVH, but can be caused by it. If your report does not indicate LVH then it's not an issue. Diastolic dysfunction means the heart can not fully fill during it's diastolic part of your heart beat which means the muscle does not relax enough to allow proper filling. It can be caused LVH, a thickening of the muscle in the left ventricle, but I'm assuming your report does not indicate that. If it does, that is most likely the cause.  It can also be caused by heart valve disease, but again your report does not indicate that either so that leaves high BP as a likely cause. Stage 1 is mild and not really of any major significance, but should be checked again in a year. I had it on an echo recently and it was not there the next year. As long as you have a structurally normal heart this is not much of a concern.

LVH is also manly caused by high BP so in your case you should be making sure your BP is under control. It is important to remember that both diastolic dysfunction and LVH are the result of an underlying condition such as high blood pressure so it is very important that the underlying cause be identified and controlled. What did you doctor say? If he did not spend time going over your report you should schedule an appointment to do so, he owes you that.

I hope this helps,

Jon