Angiogram is when the doctors go up through your groin into your heart, use some dye, and checked for blocked arteries. Sometimes they check the pressure in the valves. A mild sedative is given before to relax you. It will definitely show if there is anything wrong with your heart and it is worth it. If they see blocked arteries they may choose to stent them to keep them open at that time.
The only TVD I am aware of is Tricuspid Valve Dysplasia which is typically a congenital defect of the tricuspid valve which allows severe regurgitation back into the right side of the heart causing a fluid overload which can cause the right atrium and ventricle to become enlarged. Basically, the leaflets of the valve are thickened and can not close properly allowing blood to get pushed back in with each beat.
I'm having a CT angiogram Thursday. It avoids an interventional procedure that has some risk. X-ray exposture presents some risk for cancer, but my non-interventional cardiologist feels a CT angiogram is sufficient and I'm not disputing his recommendation. I had a cath angiogram and a stent 4 years ago, there was no problem as I was in a hospital setting for 3-4 days. However, some people experience a bleeding problem at the site of the cath insertion and pain that lasts several days.
If I were you, I would have the angiogram to find out exactly what is going on and get it fixed. Nitrates are so bad for your liver and being on them for years can lead to cirrohous of the liver which happened to both my uncle and grandmother. There is so much that they can do now through a cath angiogram for the heart.
Its difficult to know from your style what comments are differentiated and what isn't; who said what, what is documented evidence, what is YOUR interpretation,
QUOTE:"A cardiac CT scan for coronary calcium is a non-invasive way of obtaining information about the presence, location and extent of calcified plaque in the coronary arteries" Here is an excert from a site dealing with calcium scans, explaining to a patient what it does and what to expect....
1) One aretery is 50-60 percent blocked or lesion is what is says on the paperwork. There were 2 other ateries that had a 30 percent lesion on them. This was all on the left side, and the right side was negative (almost like they never looked at that side.) All other heart functions were normal or at least that is what it appears. The surgeon who did the cath, never came and talked to me.
Not to be critical as I beleive Lutheran meant to say cath angiogram. Both cath or CT angiogram use contract dye to view perfusion, and that procedure is the definition of angiogram.
A CT scan 64/128 views the anatomy of the 4 main heart vessels and will show any soft plaque between the linings of the vessel as well as any plaque buildup in the lumen. The cath angiogram views the lumen for the plaque that narrows and obstructs blood flow causing angina (chest pain).
Your heart was normal a year ago yet your EF was only 15% ?
High blood pressure would have adapted your heart to get 15% so what caused such a dramatic drop in your EF?
Some people confuse the term 'groin' to mean the actual genitals. Is this what you are thinking? The catheter goes into the inside of your leg, near the top, to enter the femoral artery. If this is offtrack I apologist. The area is numbed of course and you are given medication to keep you relaxed.
If I'm offtrack, some cardiologists can go through the wrist.
I'm not sure what it'd be that's the scary part I don't no what would cause this pain. I didn't no if my ef was to high or not I usually hear them like 40 to 60. If you don't mind me asking why so many angiograms?
The numbers you have posted are not really relevant to a blockage in all cases. For example, my LVEF is always 70% but it doesn't mean there is no ischemia. What is often observed as a giveaway is how slow the heart muscles is at relaxing each time it has pumped. I assume you have had some sort of symptom to prompt the tests?
It can give clues to how severe a blockage is but it could also go the other way, and not show blockages which actually exist. It is a little bit complicated but I will put it in very basic terms for you.
We are born with tiny vessels across the heart called collaterals, but they are not in use until required. Not everyone experiences these special vessels coming into action, but most do.
Sounds to me that you need to have an angiogram to find out exactly what is going on with your heart. There could be plugged arteries or arteries just spasming from the cholesterol build up which will cause chest pain, feeling like you are having an heart attack. Also, the angiogram will tell the real truth how your valves are doing. Echo's are just a tool and sometimes the angiogram comes up with something totally different than what was thought on the Echo.
If she is open to changing the food she eats read up on the research of Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn. I followed his advice to lower my cholesterol and did so within 3 weeks of eating healthy. His research is very impressive.
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