Cardiologist cant seem to give me straight answers

[oopsyadaisy]

Im at a loss. My heart specialist shocks me with the news that my minor mitral valve has suddenly turned major bad and wants a stat angiogram. The cardiologist that he reffered me to sees the echo and the echo that i requested compares them and says that one says to him severe regurg and the second one he says he feels it states moderate regurg. He wont discuss the results and says Im sure your fine and listens to my heart on a stethescope. He says you probably had this all along. I told him thats not true at all. I decided after I came on here that want a copy of these echoes. I am allowed am I not? How do I get them? I want to know whats going on. What numbers to look for.

 

[Ross]

Simply tell them you want the test results. By law, they have to give them to you, though they may charge a fee for them. If they are decent folks, they won't don't that.

 

[Harpoon]

Once upon a time I brought a blank tape with me to the cardologist's office when I knew I was probably going to get an echo during my visit....


"A short time later" I brought the tape again and got another copy of the echo. Now I had two seperate exams done several months (years?) apart...


"Not long after that" I brought the tape with me to Cleveland Clinic when I went for my transplant evaluation....


Good thing too, because they had no basis on which to judge what they were looking at, no idea what my heart looked like BEFORE my tricuspid valve tanked and they wanted to know. I let them borrow my tape. =)


I don't understand a whole lot of what they're doing during an echo as far as how to read flow levels and measurements and such, however I do know enough to figure out the structures of the heart. In mine, the artificial valve kinda sticks out like a sore thumb!

There's a kind of art to how they do these things. A lot of what they're judging is based on educated guesses and previous experience and I wouldn't be suprised that one doctor says "moderate" while another says "severe" because it's kind of a subjective opinion... I think they also base it on how well your heart (and the rest of your body) seems to tolerate the problem, what other symptoms are present.

I had severe regurgitation for several months prior to my surgery, in part because you could SEE the veins buldging from my neck every time my heart beat.


You should be able to get copies of the reports and maybe even a copy of the tape (though usually that's just for the novelty of it, before VCR's were so popular they might offer little black and white photo stills. Modern machines can still do this by the way.)

 

[McCln]

Seems to me that you need to scrape both cardiologists and get another doctor who knows what she/he is doing. Neither one wants to tell you what you need to really know. Try to get another cardio doctor. It does seem strange one cardiologist referring a patient to another cardiologist unless you requested an second opinion. Please get a referrel and get with another cardiologist. You need straight answers, not just beating around the bush. Good luck.

Caroline
09-13-01
Aortic valve replacement
St. Jude's valve

 

[Karlynn]

How far apart were the echo's done?

I would not continue to go to a doctor who looks at 2 vastly different echos and then just dismisses you by saying you probably had it all along. You need to find a doctor who will communicate clearly with you and answer all your questions. Many, many of us here have had to sort through bad and mediocre doctors in order to find a good one. I tried 5 before I found one that would listen and communicate.

In the meantime, monitor yourself for symptom.
fluid retention
swelling of extremities
shortness of breath
fatigue
arrhythmia
chest pain

If you regurg is severe, you may be having some symptoms (but then again,you may not)

 

[epstns]

Also bear in mind. . .

Also bear in mind. . .

Also remember that the technicians and doctors are participants in a rather inexact profession -- that must be why they call it "practicing" medicine. Seriously, the echo's are interpreted by doctors who all have their own opinions of what constitutes different levels of severity, absent the physical "markers." In other words, in my own case, the stats might place my aortic stenosis at "moderate to severe" but my cardio treats it as "moderate" due to his interpretation of the serial echo results along with his exam results over time.

It isn't precise out here before surgery. There are physical markers or symptoms that are pretty definite, but absent those, there's a lot of room for interpretation by each individual doctor. If you have two opinions that differ widely, I might suggest a third -- to see if two out of three can agree.

 

[tobagotwo]

Call the cardiologist's office who requested the echoes for you. They are required by law to provide copies of the results, and are usually good about it. You can ask for a copy of all of your records that they hold, if you like. They can legally charge you a copying fee.

Best wishes,

 

[medtronic of borg]

files

files

Keep one thing in mind many reports today are on computers...when they hand you a hard copy check and see if it has tabs or refernces to other pages of the same report. It is a sneeky way they get by the law.

Med

 

[M&M]

There are cardiologists that are also specifically 'certified' in interpreting echos. They are 'specifically' trained to read echos. Many years ago I had several echos done by a regular cardiologist (plmber) - but it wasn't until I had one read by a specifically certified echocardiogram cardiologist that my leaky valve was diagnosed. So, I think it makes a big difference if the person reading the echo is qualified or not.. Thats just my observation.