1 year post op! EF question...

[T in YVR]

How time flies! I'm 1 year post op today (AVR) and feeling great. It was a rough year at times - the recovery, followed by a serious concussion due to blacking out/falling from Metoprolol side effects, a really bad flu + antibiotics, etc. But the scar is pretty faded, the aches are long gone (!), my left ventricle has dropped from a high of 66mm to 58mm (just above the top end of the normal range) and life is pretty much back to normal - other than the mild ticking of my valve . I still get some chest cracking and can't quite drop the Metoprolol and Coversyl until my LV comes down further, but they are manageable now.

My only concern is that my EF is on the low end of normal at 55%, and has been that way for the past couple Echos post op (was at 60% before this). So at the next Echo, they are going to measure it using some other method to get a very accurate reading - usually its done using a visual observation that is +/- 10% accurate (I'm not clear on the specifics of the more precise way they measure this, but am hopeful it will move up a bit). Not sure if it is something to be worried about, but I thought it would be higher post op. My cardiologist said Metoprolol and Coversyl actually improve your EF, so without those drugs, I'm not sure what it would be - anyone know if this (EF at 55%) is something to be concerned about? Isn't it supposed to be better post op?

Thanks,
Tony

 

[Duffey]

My EF was high pre-op, so there was no concern when it's measured now at about 55%. I wouldn't worry about it. Time seems to help most things after valve replacement, so it's quite possible that even though you are a year out, the EF will rise over a longer period of time.

 

[gerrychuck]

Anything above 50% is generally considered within the normal range. My EF was 50-55% on my echo 4 months post-op, and maybe slightly lower on my last one a couple of months ago (this is currently being reviewed, as most findings on that echo were improved, so the slight drop in EF seemed out of place). Doesn't sound like you have anything to be concerned about with regard to the EF according to all that I've read recently.