The LV/aortic gradient usually refer to the difference of pressure between the left ventricle and the aorta in systole (when the heart is ejecting). A value of 6 mmHg for this gradient is low/nonsignificant, so has no risk involved.
Good luck
Thank you for the information. What I am trying to find out is why I have turbulent flow at the LVOT If my aorta is normal and no issues there Said not to be stenosis, and my LV is not really hypertrophic, and I have a audible murmer at the lower left sternal edge my whole life, then what on earth can be the possible causes of the turbulent flow and indeed presumabltyt turbulent flow may not ovber a period of many years come without consequences. The other bits I don;t underastand is 'fractional shortening ' of 43 per cent My ejection fraction is 74 per cent.
The turbulent flow seems to usually go with some pathology or other ?
As I previously posted the most common causes for LVOT turbulence are associated with the aortic valve morphology (e.g. mild fusion of 2 leaflets of the valve, bicuspid valve, unicuspid valve, thickening of the leaflets). If your aortic valve is normal, a subaortic membrane is the second most common cause for LVOT turbulence/obstruction (8–30% of cases). In your case, whatever is causing this turbulence is not generating a significant stenosis/gradient (only 9 mmHg). Sometimes, the surface echo is not able to discriminate what is causing the turbulence, especially when the cause is a small membrane or a small leaflet fusion.
The fraction shortening is the difference between the end diastolic and the end systolic diameter of the left ventricle in the parasternal long axis of the echo FS= [(end-diastolic - end-systolic) / end-diastolic] x 100 (%). That value is not clinically used (although in your case is also normal), only the ejection fraction is useful.
Many thanks for the explanation. I suppose my final question that flows from the very helpful information you have kindly provided, is whether when exerting oneself this turbulence presents any inherent risks ?
I am presuming I have had this since childhood because I have always been noted to have a murmur, described overall as 'soft' sometimes grade 2 out of 6 I guess this soft murmur corresponds to the low gradient
and it being lifelong probably means its just 'one of those things' rather than anything to worry about
My only symptom of concern to me is a tendency to feel out of breath on drinking alcohol
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