"Is it possible that my EF during anxiety is lower if my heart rate is "light"? "
I guess it could have. The term that describes contractive force of the ventricular muscle is "inotropy" (contractility). I know beta blockers affect inotropy. Make sense that anxiety would have an affect, what that affect is I don't know.
Thanks for a very good reply!
I forgot to say, my LV EDV is 125 ml. I suppose this is "normal". This will increase when I exercise?
From this, my stroke volume is 125 x 0,57 = 71 ml and CO at heart rate 80 = 5,7 l/hour?
If my heart rate increases to 200, my CO is 14,2l/hour. Anyway, I guess my EF increases a bit during heavy exercise (mid to upper range heart rate), and reduces if HR is too high, like the torque on an engine, right?
A strange thing was, during my echocardiography, I was very scared and I felt this light, but somewhat elevated heart rate (100-120), possibly lowering EF? When I exercise, I can feel sort of heavy beats at high speed. When I'm anxious they're just fast, and light.
Is it possible that my EF during anxiety is lower if my heart rate is "light"?
Anyway, thanks for a great reply. I learn something every day :)
If you want to understand it better, wikipedia has some good info on how it's calculated. Running through the formula might give you a better idea on what the number means. I've often found that crunching the numbers can paint a picture and a picture is worth a 1,000 words.
Stroke Volume and/or Cardiac Output would provide a better measure of an athletic heart, but those aren't typically done on workup tests.
Case in point, my LVEF is 72%. I have average exercise tolerance. I also know my heart is on the small side so my stroke volume is probably not that great compared to an athlete.
So, I think if you conditioned yourself your LVEF would probably stay the same. This is because all the factors in the equation should in theory increase at the same rate therefore the measurement will stay the same. However the stroke volume and cardiac output measure would increase.