Heart Attack Support Group

Heart attack is a serious, sudden heart condition usually characterized by varying degrees of chest pain or discomfort, weakness, sweating, nausea, vomiting, and arrhythmias, sometimes causing loss of consciousness. It occurs when the blood supply to a part of the heart is interrupted, causing death and scarring of the local heart tissue.

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Heart, Blood & Circulation
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Ejection Fraction on Echo vs MRI

TD99
TD99
Hi everyone:
Had a heart attack in mid-October. Stent permanently blocked by clot. 10-15% of heart is gone/damaged. Anyway, my EF 4 days after the heart attack was measured by Echo and was 48. Then 5 weeks later, I had a cardiac MRI and they said my EF was 46. Doctor said it was because of echo vs mri. Has your ejection fraction been different on echo vs mri? Which one is usually higher? Thank you very much.
TD99
TD99
I did not mean to post this topic twice but I can't find where to delete it. Sorry.
RoboPop
RoboPop
This is quite common and the difference between the two methods is insignificant, especially when you are so close to a "normal" EF which is 50%. However, FYI an MRI is considered more accurate. You must bear in mind that there is a tolerance on the results, so for example, the EF you reported from the echo of 48 would really be 43-53 (tolerance of +-5%) I don't remember the tolerance for an MRI.

What is important isn't that number, it's how you feel.

PS: if you are unhappy with the numbers you were given, I'll gladly take them...
TD99
TD99
Thanks RoboPop, I'm thankful to have those numbers. I was just making sure that a 48 echo and then 5 weeks later a 46 mri didn't mean the EF was decreasing. Thank you very much.