Know Your Ejection Fraction for a Healthy Heart - February is American Heart Month

Main Category: Cardiovascular / Cardiology
Article Date: 06 Feb 2005 - 21:00 PDT


Los Angeles - Odds are, most people don't know their ejection fraction, or even what it is - but knowing this number could help protect against sudden cardiac death.

Cardiac electrophysiologist Leslie A. Saxon, M.D., professor of medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, says an ejection fraction is the percentage of blood squeezed out of the left ventricle with each heartbeat.

"Everyone should know their ejection fraction, just like they know their cholesterol level, blood pressure and other measures of cardiovascular health," says Saxon.

Saxon explains that with every heartbeat, oxygen-rich blood is squeezed or ejected out of the heart's left ventricle, the biggest and most muscular of the heart's four chambers. Using tests such as an echocardiogram, doctors can see how well the left ventricle works by taking a measure, or the ejection fraction. An ejection fraction of 50 percent means the ventricle spurts out half its volume each time it contracts.

Healthy ejection fractions are 50 percent or higher; lower ejection fractions can mean cardiomyopathy - a disease of the heart muscle that saps the muscle's strength. Cardiomyopathy is a major cause of sudden cardiac death.

For most patients on Medicare with cardiomyopathy and an ejection fraction of 30 percent or less, a recent announcement by the federal government provides for expanded coverage of implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs), which can interrupt cardiac arrest by monitoring the heart's rhythm and delivering an electrical shock when a life-threatening arrhythmia is detected.

"Sudden cardiac death causes about a thousand deaths in this country every single day," says Saxon. "Research shows that 95 percent of people who experience cardiac arrest die, often before they can even reach an emergency room. But with an implantable defibrillator, sudden death could actually be prevented in 98 percent of cases."

Many patients with heart trouble who have needed the defibrillators have been unable to afford them, until now. Medicare's expanded coverage will allow patients who have never had a heart attack - but who have a serious heart condition - to benefit from the ICDs.

For more information about determining your ejection fraction or who is eligible for an ICD, call 1-800-USC-CARE or visit http://www.usc.edu/cardiacep

Sarah Huoh
Media Relations Representative
USC Health Sciences
Phone: (323) 442-2830
Pager: (213) 203-0485
shuoh@usc.edu

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