Pre surgery meeting regarding EF

[bill hall]

I just wanted to follow up on my previous EF posting and let you know what I found out. My EF dropped from 60 in 2007 to 15-20 now. It seemed to happen suddenly and in conjunction with my irregular heartbeat. I know that fixing the aneurysm will not help the EF and that was confirmed by the surgeon. It is likely that replacing the aortic valve will not improve the EF in my case because the present aortic valve seems to be working fine. The ablation could improve the EF if my heart goes back to normal rhythm, but that is not a sure thing. I coulld end up with a major surgery and not feel any better. I guess that will be OK if I survive and I would be happy if I felt as good as now. Only time will tell.
Bill

 

[Duffey]

That's a significant drop to say the least.
Hopefully the ablation will solve the rhythm issue and your EF will improve as a result.
Best wishes going forward.

 

[Mentu]

Bill, we often live as though our lives are a "sure thing" but we here in VR know this is not true. That said, very few people do not survive heart surgery. We can hope with you that as you recover you will find your heart heals well. I look forward to hearing how you progress. Wishing you the best.

Larry

 

[kfay]

Bill, what is the rhythm problem you are having that is causing your EF to drop? I'm curious b/c I may have a similar situation. My EF dropped this time from 69 to 40 (in less than a year) and my Dr. had no idea why. I went back to my EP Dr. from many moons ago who did my original surgery for WPW in 1980. He thought the reason for the drop could be due to the arrythmias I have had since my last surgery. It's too complicated to try and explain the difference in how the heart beats when I have these "benign" rhythms, but he said there is a theory that over time, if these beats are consistent, they can cause a drop in your EF. He started me on Flecanide over a month ago and it has made a tremendous difference in my life. Not only are all those heart rhythms gone, but my almost daily headaches that have plagued me since these rhythm issues developed have also disappeared. I don't know yet where my EF is with these changes, but I'll be curious to see if it goes back up.

Hang in there and don't get discouraged. Don't be afraid to seek out an expert in rhythm problems and see if you can't find something to stop them. It took me 3 years to decide to go back to this old Dr. and I'm kicking myself that I didn't do it earlier.

 

[bill hall]

Thanks for the excellent replies. Back to Kfay, I did ask pretty clear questions about the EF drop and either they just don't know or it was too complicated to explain. I noticed you had a Maze Procedure. I wonder if that was successful and helped you. You seemed to say the Flecanide was the big difference. They told me my rhythm problem was afib to answer your initial querstion. They also told me I am going in and out of afib. During the stress echo, she noticed both afib and normal beats.
Bill