My Echo Report

[Karlynn]

Warning - this is probably going to be boring and my feelings won't be hurt if you move on to the next post.

I received my echo report and I don't know what info is "important" so I'll just type all of it. - (save this if you have trouble sleeping at night) Feel free to speed read.

Maybe I'm dense - but is this saying that I have 2 valves that aren't perfect? She never mentioned a tricuspid valve regurg. She just spoke of Aortic issues. (Edit - just spoke with her and she said that most people have a tricuspid regurg, that it's normal, so that is why she didn't mention it.)

Left Atrium - 3.9
Aortic Valve Opening -2.1
Root Dimension- 3.1

Mitral Valve - Amplitude (D-E) (? have no idea what that is)
Tricuspid Valve - Amplitude (D-E) (?)

Left Ventricle
Dimension (D) 5.6
Dimension (S) 3.4
Fractional Shortening (again?)
Septal Thickness - 1.2
Post Wall Thickness 1.2
----------------------------------
Left Atrium is not enlarged

Right Atrium and Ventricle - right sided valves and chambers appear grossly normal. There is a mild tricuspid valve regurg.

Mitral Valve
- leaflets thin and mobile w/out prolapse or regurg.
mild anterior and posteriror annular calcification. Well seated disc. No thrombus or vegetation present.
Peak velocity of flow across the valve is 1.5m/s, with a peak gradient of 8.6 mmHg and a mean gradient of 3.6 mmHg. And the valve area calculated by the pressure half-time method is 2.84 cm2 (that's squared).

Aortic Root
The aortic root exhibits mild sclerotic changes but is not dilated.

Aortic Valve
The leaflets of the tricuspid aortic valve exhibit mild fibrocalcific changes but open widely without stenosis. There is mild aortic insufficiency.

Left Ventricle:
is not dilated, systolic function is normal; without segmental wall motion abnormalities. Mild concentric left ventricular hypertrophy is detected.

No pericardial effusion

Conclusion:
1. There is mild anterior and posterior mitral annular calcification
2. No evidence of mitral prosthetic valve malfunction
3. Mild aortic root sclerosis without dilation.
4. Aortic valve sclerosis without significant stenosis
5. Mild aortic insufficiency
6. Mild concentric left ventricular hypertrophy
7. Probable left ventricular diastolic dysfunction with normal systolic function.
8. Mild tricuspid valve regurgitiation.

Compared to previous study 7/10/02, there is a slight increased aortic insufficiency and tricuspid regurgitiation.

 

[dwfreck]

Karlynn,

You're not dense; your report is definitely saying that you have 2 valves that aren't "perfect" along with several other "imperfections."

However, unless you have the results from your previous echo, you won't know whether the tricuspid regurg is new or not.

From what I've read about valve surgery lately, here and elsewhere, it is not uncommon to have "imperfections" in other parts of the heart if you have or had a problem serious enought to need surgery.

Discuss each of the items in the "conclusions" section of your report with your cardiologist, and ask questions until you understand and are satisfied with the answers.

 

[Christina L]

Karlynn,

From a layman's reading of your echo, I say it looks pretty good and that the imperfections are just that "imperfections." They say most people have some type of heart imperfection - be it mild tricuspid regurg or mild mitral, this or that.

I could be wrong, but I think you should be very pleased with this report. It sounds pretty great to me!

As for the aortic problem getting slightly worse - they could test you again in a year and it might have improved. Who knows.

I will be anxious to hear what everyone else thinks of the echo reading.

Happy holidays!
Christina L.
Colorado

 

[Ross]

Me thinks the lady is doing just fine. When it comes to echos, they are only good right when they're being done. The next day they could see things differently, so I don't give them a whole lot of credit.

 

[bvdr]

Karlynn,

It all sounds pretty good. It sure doesn't look like you have to go back to the waiting room for anything!

 

[Karlynn]

Thanks guys! I'm not feeling too badly about the report - it is what it is and my doctor isn't freaking out - which is also a good sign.

I do take exception to having my right atrium and ventricle being called "grossly normal". I'd rather have "beautifully abnormal".

She's having me come back in 3 months. That's fine with me, I'd rather have the peace of mind that things aren't progressing quickly, and if they are, then have an eye kept on it. My medical history proves that when I do something - I don't do it half -hearted, it's all or nothin' baby. It's almost as if my body says - if we're going to screw this up, then let's screw it up good.

Thanks again for your opinions. They are always appreciated.

Karlynn

 

[sylviayasgur]

hi karlynn!
i tend to agree with all the others. if your doc isn't going bananas, that's good!
as far as "grossly normal", i caught that too and agree with you.
also, the changes from last year's echo seem to be minimal.
and, i don't know if i read it here, but i've read the same thing dale mentioned about folks with valve problems sometimes having issues with the other(tricuspid) down the road sometime being very typical.
please keep us posted if anything new comes up.
otherwise, just be well.
-sylvia

 

[Nancy]

I think when "grossly" is used in this sense, it means "immediately obvious" or something close to that.

 

[dwfreck]

Karlynn,

"Grossly normal" sounds to me like a fancy way of saying "largely normal" and meaning "taken as a whole".

In mathematics, a "gross" of something is 144 (or 12 squared) of that item, so from a historical mathematical perspective, a gross is large (kind of like the Bible's "seven times seven").

I suspect the adjective "goss" as a synonym for "gotesque" is a much more recent linguistinc development.

Since medicine is a very old profession (probably older than mathematics), and since doctors have a funny way of adapting words for their own clinical use, it is possible that "grossly" may have a specific clinical meaning (like "congenital" or "histologic"). However, I suspect that the meaning grew out of the historical mathematical meaning of "gross".

 

[ALCapshaw2]

My "layman's" interpretation is that you are in pretty good shape. Regular checkups would seem to be all that is required.

Note that medical adjectives describing conditons follow this order:
None
Trace
Mild
Moderate
Severe
Critical

MILD usually indicates a conditon should be monitored but no action is needed at that point (again from my layman's perspective)

'AL'