Thicker heart walls ...... but not? - Heart Disorders Message Board

manlyman · 10-10-2006, 11:59 AM

Hi all,

About 6 months ago I had an echocardiogram of my heart done. Came back "normal". As in, normal heart, normal heart walls, etc. etc. etc.

Three days ago, while in the hospital for high blood pressure, I had another one. This time, one heart wall came back OK, but another heart wall came back "very minimally thickened".

When I saw my cardiologist, he noticed that I have lost about 50 pounds in the past year, and asked how I was doing that. I explained that I work out a lot and eat healthy. He says that the change in the echo over the 6 months is so minimal, that it may have not changed at all, and it could have just been the technician OR the machine that made it look a little thicker or a little thinner.

So he basically said, if it was thicker 6 months ago, it is the same now and just wasn't caught 6 months ago. If it was normal six months ago, it is normal now, and just looks thicker because of the way the echo was done.

Is this true? He says either way, once I lose more weight (which I am doing) it will go back to normal.

He apparently is one of the best cardiologists in the area. I am 23 years old, but I have had high blood pressure since I was 18. What do you all think?

Thanks!

-Matt

started04 · 10-10-2006, 04:56 PM

Hi Matt,

The echo tech outlines the "fuzzy" heart wall as seen on the screen with a transducer. The echo software calculates based on that subjectivity.

Depending on how blurred the representation of the wall and the tech's estimate there may be a variance of 5-8%. A minimum change may fall within that variance.

manlyman · 10-10-2006, 04:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kenkeith

Hi Matt,

The echo tech outlines the "fuzzy" heart wall as seen on the screen with a transducer. The echo software calculates based on that subjectivity.

Depending on how blurred the representation of the wall and the tech's estimate there may be a variance of 5-8%. A minimum change may fall within that variance.

OK well two cardiologists said it was so minimal they weren't concerned. My guessing is that, maybe, he's trying to be nice to me because I'm only 23.... but the way I see it, he would probably be MORE concerned because I'm only 23.

I work out all the time and I eat healthy, I just have a bit of high blood pressure. I'm going to just keep losing the weight and trust what both the cardiologists said, which is "Its nothing to worry about".