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Doctors Lounge - Cardiology Answers
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| sunnygirl
- Fri Jun 13, 2003 7:26 pm |
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I have had 2 echos in the last year that show mod. mitral and tricuspid regurgitation and mild pulmonary hypertension. So, my Dr. suggested a heart cath which I had done on Thursday. He said the heart cath. showed no regurgitation. Why does it show up on the echo and not the heart cath? He gave me a loading dose of 750 mg of Plavix. Thank you for your time.
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| Dr. Yasser Mokhtar
- Mon Jun 23, 2003 1:27 am |
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 Dear SunnyGirl,
Heart cath is usually done to show the anatomy of the coronary arteries in addition to other information about the function of the heart. If the regurge is significant it should appear in the angiogram. Did you have a right heart cath or just a left heart cath?
Echo is usually used to diagnose and follow the progress of valvular disease.
When was the last echo you had and are you taking any medications for the mitral regurge?
Thank you very much for using our website http://doctorslounge.com and i hope that this information helped.
Yasser Mokhtar, M.D.
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| sunnygirl
- Tue Jun 24, 2003 7:53 pm |
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Thank you for your reply. The last echo I had was in December. I am not taking any med. for the regurge. I had a right and left heart cath. and the Dr. said when he shot the dye he saw no regurge. So are you saying that the regurge that shows on the echo is not as significant as it seems to be?
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| Dr. Yasser Mokhtar
- Wed Jun 25, 2003 12:37 am |
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Dear SunnyGirl,
Echocardiography gives a lot of information about the valves that the cath can not provide like how does the valve actually look like, what is the exact velocity of the blood at the valve and is there any stenosis or regurge at the valve and others info. That's why evaluation of valves by echocardiogram is preffered. If the cath did not show the regurge i would think that the regurge is not that significant but i suggest that you have to follow up with an echocardiogram and if you start to have symptoms it would not be a bad idea to be started on medications.
You have to remember that all tests are not 100% sensitive nor 100% specific meaning that sometimes you will have the disease but the test will not detect it and sometimes you do not have the disease and the test will say that you have it.
We have to use our clinical judgement in addition to the test results always.
Thank you very much for using our website http://doctorslounge.com and i hope that this information helped.
Yasser Mokhtar, M.D.
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