Bicuspid valve and low ejection fraction?

[ShaneD5]

I've been feeling like crap the last 4 months so I saw my cardiologist who measured my EF at 42%. I get seen once a year for my valve and my EF back in October 2012 was 65%. My doctor said she believes that it's my valve causing left ventricular dysfunction, although my valve has been stable so far. By definition, it's a cardiomyopathy.

Has anyone heard of a bicuspid valve causing low EF like that? Or am I just unlucky enough to have both a BAV and cardiomyopathy?

 

[ShaneD5]

I should also note that I'm 22 now and I've been followed since age 7 with a BAV and year by year it's been stable. The only thing they found was my aortic root grew to 3.8.

 

[rb26cory]

Any news??
I also had an echo on ovt 2012 my ef was at 58% dr prescrpbed me with digoxin .. 2013 echo ef lowered to 45% ..

 

[clay_from_nj]

Absolutely Shane. My BAV was so far gone that it became stenotic and regurgitating. The resultant strain on my heart weakened it significantly, to the point of congestive heart failure (CHF). At one point, my EF was measured at about 15%. My AVR was a huge turning point and I will press my cardiologist for numbers at my next checkup this spring.

 

[Tirone]

A leaky or stenotic aortic valve makes your heart pump more and work harder. The heart tries to adapt to this by building more muscles (hypertrophy) and getting bigger (dilation). Over time this leads to a decrease in EF.

The EF is a value that says what percentage of blood your heart can eject after it has been totally filled. A healthy heart can eject >55%. However, the EF isn't an absolute number, it says nothing about the total amount of blood that is actually being ejected. If your heart is dilated and bigger than "normal", 40% might still a lot of blood in absolut numbers. Professional endurance athletes in certain cases have a lower than normal EF at rest, but when they're doing sports the EF raises. The EF doesn't always correlate to the symptoms. Some people might not even realize that their EF is low, others will have symptoms soon.

Did your cardiologist tell you what the reason is for the EF of 42%? If the reason is aortic regurgitation or stenosis you might want to get the opinion of cardiac surgeon as well...

 

[camgough]

The past 2 years (2012 and 2013) my EF was 45% and I was never prescribed anything, and did not have major symptoms. In October 2014 my EF had dropped to 37% , which was confirmed by a MUGA test in December. Fast forward to now, and I have an AVR scheduled for February 18, 2015. I don't know how much regurgitation and / or stenosis there is. Last I heard was 2 years ago with moderate regurgitation.

 

[cewilk]

My found out I had BAV back in 2011 and had a normal EF. By Spring 2012, my EF had gotten to the low 40%. At that point that is when my cardiologist knew it was time for a valve replacement. I had severe aortic regurgitation because of the BAV.

 

[AZ Don]

In May 2013 I had a valve sparing aneurysm graft as my BAV was well functioning. Follow-up echo's showed mild to moderate regurgitation but my EF was fine (62). Now my latest echo says I have moderate regurgitation but my EF is down to 40-45 and my left ventricle (LVESD) increased from 33 to 42. I didn't get the numbers til after my last visit with the Cardio so now I have lot's of questions, but will get a chance to ask since I'm going back for a muga test to confirm my EF and then i get to talk to him after. Not sure how my regurgitation can only be moderate while impacting my EF and LV so much. I feel fine but now I know that I have another surgery in my not too distant future.

 

[cldlhd]

In May 2013 I had a valve sparing aneurysm graft as my BAV was well functioning. Follow-up echo's showed mild to moderate regurgitation but my EF was fine (62). Now my latest echo says I have moderate regurgitation but my EF is down to 40-45 and my left ventricle (LVESD) increased from 33 to 42. I didn't get the numbers til after my last visit with the Cardio so now I have lot's of questions, but will get a chance to ask since I'm going back for a muga test to confirm my EF and then i get to talk to him after. Not sure how my regurgitation can only be moderate while impacting my EF and LV so much. I feel fine but now I know that I have another surgery in my not too distant future.

I'm sorry to hear that. I don't know a lot about it but it always seems strange to me how so many people have well functioning BAV's well into adulthood then they pretty quickly need attention
I'm scheduled to have basically the same operation you had back in 2013. David valve sparing with the aneurysm graft.