ultrasound stress test revealed a weak lateral wall of the L ventrical?
What exactly does that mean and how is it fixed?
What exactly does that mean and how is it fixed?
Agnodice
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This basically means that there was an area of the heart that was not getting enough blood with the stress portion of the test and the medical term for this is ischemia. When the heart muscle does not get enough blood temporarily it will weaken. If that area of the heart does not get enough blood for a long enough period of time, then it will die which is known as a heart attack. The most common cause for this is blockages in the blood vessels that supply the heart known as coronary artery disease. Medications and lifestyle modification can be used to treat this. Further evaluation with a coronary angiogram (cardiac catheterization) may also be needed. During the coronary angiogram, the doctor's inject dye into the arteries that supply the heart and look for blockages. Sometimes they can dilate the blockages (angioplasty) and place a stent to keep the vessel open and reduce the chance of a future heart attack. Medications that can be used include Aspirin, beta blockers, cholesterol lowering medications like statins, etc. If the person smokes, they should quit. Eating a healthy well balanced diet full of fruits, vegetables and omega-3 fatty acids can also help some. It is important to follow up with the Cardiologist regarding this to determine the most appropriate treatment for this.
Ralph 124c41
I'm doing a lot of guessing here - I'm not an authority, but I had my own stress test yesterday and am waiting for results...
The left ventricle is the one that pumps blood out to the body. (That, at least, isn't a guess.)
I don't think that a weak wall means that it could blow out, but that the contractions are weak and therefore not pumping enough volume on each stroke, so that your heart has to beat more often to get the blood flow you need.
One cause could be poor oxygenation of the heart tissue. If it is caused by arterial blockage - the left anterior descending artery is one of the main arteries in the heart - it can be helped by putting in a stent, by bypass surgery, by treating with statins, or a combination of the above.
A lot of people, like me, put off taking statin drugs, it makes them feel OLD. I started taking them after a heart attack 3 years ago - no side effects to speak of, and my cholesterol is now down around 130.
The bad news is, well, you already got that.
The good news is that when caught early, heart disease is treatable. All those things the docs have been whining at you about for years really do help. Exercise and diet (and statins) can keep you healthy.
Anonymous
In theory, the ST depression shows decreased blood flow and the hypokinesis shows an area that may be scarred from a previous infarction. The problem is that neither is by any means certain. That's why we have specialists with judgment.