LV Regrowth

[Bill Hall]

I had my first echocardiogram in two years last week. They gave me a quickie feedback, which showed enlargement of my left ventricle (from 5.4 to 5.9). Just after my valve surgery, my left ventricle reduced in size. So this is just regrowth, right? My BP was normal and my valves are working fine and I went through the stress test without incident. My LV was originally enlarged when I had rheumatic fever at age 10, remained enlarged for 37 years until my valve replacement surgery. So this regrowth must be a common occurance, but I am concerned about the percentage growth. I see my cardiologist on Monday April 25 and the only question I can think of is "How does the size compare to pre-surgery". Any other ideas about questions and why?
Bill

 

[tobagotwo]

You said the valves were functioning fine. I would ask them to qualify that, and ask if there was any degradation in either valve, particularly the repair.

What were the numbers in the intervening years? You said you had one two years ago, but your surgery was in 1999, so there must be others. Did it stay reduced in size for several of the echoes?

If only the one right after surgery was different, it was probably a poor read.

The other questions would be the annoying ones, like have you been exercising more than before, are you lifting wieghts now, have you put on weight? You can answer those to yourself. They're just things that might cause your heart to work harder.

Best wishes,

 

[bvdr]

Bill, I think I would ask your cardio about the accuracy. If it has really enlarged significantly then I hope he can give you some answers as to why. Perhaps he would want to repeat an echo in 6 months or do a TEE sooner to verify any findings. I hope you keep a file with your medical test results so you can do some comparison and research at your leisure.

 

[BionicBob]

Hello Fellow Northern Virginian!

Bill, I'm inclined to agree that there may have been some inaccuracy in the numbers or in a reading or recording of the numbers. But you're right to seek a definitive answer because when those numbers grow,they are of concern. Please keep us posted as you find out further about this. And thanks for all your support when my surgery at Inova was pending.

 

[Christian]

I had my first echocardiogram in two years last week. They gave me a quickie feedback, which showed enlargement of my left ventricle (from 5.4 to 5.9). Just after my valve surgery, my left ventricle reduced in size. So this is just regrowth, right? My BP was normal and my valves are working fine and I went through the stress test without incident. My LV was originally enlarged when I had rheumatic fever at age 10, remained enlarged for 37 years until my valve replacement surgery. So this regrowth must be a common occurance, but I am concerned about the percentage growth. I see my cardiologist on Monday April 25 and the only question I can think of is "How does the size compare to pre-surgery". Any other ideas about questions and why?
Bill

We have my wife's echo reports going back ten years, and her LVIDd size has fluctuated between 4.5 and 5.3 with an average of 5.0. I asked "why the wild fluctuations," and the doctor explained that there is some subjectivity to the measurements and that the viewing angles change from echo to echo. I know that's a pretty simplistic answer, but it might be your problem. I know I freaked when my wife's LVIDs jumped from 2.6 to 3.1, but it was back down to 2.5 six months later.

 

[Rain]

So good to hear from you!

So good to hear from you!

Hey Bill!!

How the heck are ya?

I made the mistake of having my annual echo ?after? my cardio visit...... bad idea! I?ll never do that again. Instead of a sit down with him, I got a call from the nurse saying everything is ?stable?. Yeah right........ then she goes on to say that they want me to wear a halter over night.... I?m getting a copy of the echo. I suggest everyone get the echo FIRST, then the appointment.

Sure good to hear from you!