Ejection fraction

[NikiQ]

Last August  I was admitted overnight in a cardiac unit for lightheadness, left chest discomfort. They did an echo and said it was normal. And so was my EKG as well as blood work. I was discharged and was told I did not need to follow up and said it was anxiety.

The symptoms persisted so went for a second opinion. I did a stress test and 24 hr holter. The holter showed several skipped beats during sleep. My stress test was normal. When I asked what my ejection fraction was back on the August echo whenI was admitted they said 86%. That is high but the cardiologist didnt seem to worried about it. I started taking an aspirin a day and have had chest discomfort relief and the lightheadesness has diminished. I am a runner and have a polar F7 heart  monitor that picked up heart beats in the 200s while I was asleep. The cardiologist said that was not accurate. Should I go for an opinion with and EP (electrophysiologist)

[curmudgen]

From the Cleveland Clinic web page on Ejection Fraction.

Ejection Fraction Measurement What it Means
55-70% Normal
40-55% Below Normal
Less than 40% May confirm diagnosis of heart failure
<35% Patient may be at risk of life-threatening irregular heartbeats
What do the numbers mean?
Ejection fraction is usually expressed as a percentage. A normal heart pumps a little more than half the heart’s blood volume with each beat. (1)

A normal LVEF ranges from 55-70%. A LVEF of 65, for example, means that 65% of the total amount of blood in the left ventricle is pumped out with each heartbeat.

The LVEF may be lower when the heart muscle has become damaged due to a heart attack, heart muscle disease (cardiomyopathy), or other causes.

An EF of less than 40% may confirm a diagnosis of heart failure. Someone with diastolic failure can have a normal EF.

An EF of less than 35% increases the risk of life- threatening irregular heartbeats that can cause sudden cardiac arrest (loss of heart function) and sudden cardiac death. An implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) may be recommended for these patients.

Your EF can go up and down, based on your heart condition and the therapies that have been prescribed.

[Jerry_NJ]

I think EF like Wealth, can't be too high.  An EF of 86% is higher than any I can recall seeing in the past, still an Echo measurement is an approximate measure.  

I find the 200 bpm while asleep and the other symptoms troubling... but anxiety could be a cause.  I normally have unpleasant dreams, and suppose my HR reflects my mental state, but I don't have anything recording, so I don't know the HR at those times.  

If aspirin helps, I think it good to take anyway, so long as it doesn't cause you any stomach problems.  I always take my low dose aspirin with food.