Muga Scan Question

Cat64
Cat64 Member Posts: 1,192
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
Does anyone know what the Ejection Fraction is suppose to be? When I saw mine it was 58%. When I asked, my Onc. said it should be between 55-60 so I thought that was pretty good.(?)
I read two other posts on here and one was a 70 and the other a 60 something. Both were older women. I'm confused. I'm wondering if this is why I did not get Herceptin when I was suppose to? Hmm...
Thanks!
Cathy

Comments

  • survivorbc09
    survivorbc09 Member Posts: 4,374 Member
    #2
    Hi Cathy. I don't know,
    Hi Cathy. I don't know, but, I am sure someone will post that has had it.

    HUGS
  • inkblot
    inkblot Member Posts: 698 Member
    #3
    Ejection Fraction
    Hi Cathy,

    I'm not a physician, but can share with you, what I understand regarding EF's from my personal experience:

    The EF (ejection fraction)is the measurement of the strength with which your heart pumps blood out through your body. If the heart muscle is weakened in any way, the EF will be lower than average. EF's can be measured via MUGA's or echocardiograms. There are quite a few reasons this would occur. There are "norms" for different age groups of healthy people. Depending upon your age and overall general health, yours may be PERFECTLY fine. If you are concerned, you should certainly discuss this with your doctor for clarification and have him/her explain it in terms you can understand easily. I would think that if yours was NOT fine, the doctor would have told you and explained the next step and/or why you didn't get Herceptin when you expected.

    Chemo can damage the heart muscle and weaken it, causing what's called a cardiomyopathy. If discovered during chemo, this is sometimes reversible by stopping the chemo and by taking certain medications. Viruses and other circumstances can also weaken the heart muscle and cause a lowered EF. I was unfortunate in that chemo damaged my heart (this was discovered after chemo ended...not during) and after several years of taking many heart meds, etc., (some with side effects so nasty that I had to stop taking them) my EF ultimately dipped to a mere 25-30%! Scary to say the least and my energy levels matched those of a slow-moving tortoise. (EF's are always estimated, typically accurate to within about 5 points) Solve one problem (BC) and develop another. LOL I'm happy to report that post heart surgery, I now feel great and boast an EF of 69%. I jog, ride my bike, hike...whatever I want to do with no issues. My surgery was about a year ago and thus far, no complaints and no issues. Following surgery, I only take one (low dosage) blood pressure pill each morning and my doctor thinks that pill can also likely be eliminated in another 3-6 months.

    There were no guarantees that the surgery would improve my heart function or help the damage to my ventricle, etc., to remodel (repair) itself, but I was fortunate and the surgery accomplished everything intended. Every case is different though and not everyone is a candidate for the Minimally Invasive procedure I had. Miracles never cease. Proves that there are, indeed, scalpel carrying angels among us. Those highly skilled, talented, dedicated individuals who care very much and can accomplish amazing things.

    Hope that helps with what an EF is. Additionally, if you google in EJECTION FRACTION, you will find some good explanations and that may help you to better prepare questions for discussion with your doctor.

    All the best.

    Love, light & laughter,
    Ink
  • tommaseena
    tommaseena Member Posts: 1,769
    #4
    inkblot said:

    Ejection Fraction
    Hi Cathy,

    I'm not a physician, but can share with you, what I understand regarding EF's from my personal experience:

    The EF (ejection fraction)is the measurement of the strength with which your heart pumps blood out through your body. If the heart muscle is weakened in any way, the EF will be lower than average. EF's can be measured via MUGA's or echocardiograms. There are quite a few reasons this would occur. There are "norms" for different age groups of healthy people. Depending upon your age and overall general health, yours may be PERFECTLY fine. If you are concerned, you should certainly discuss this with your doctor for clarification and have him/her explain it in terms you can understand easily. I would think that if yours was NOT fine, the doctor would have told you and explained the next step and/or why you didn't get Herceptin when you expected.

    Chemo can damage the heart muscle and weaken it, causing what's called a cardiomyopathy. If discovered during chemo, this is sometimes reversible by stopping the chemo and by taking certain medications. Viruses and other circumstances can also weaken the heart muscle and cause a lowered EF. I was unfortunate in that chemo damaged my heart (this was discovered after chemo ended...not during) and after several years of taking many heart meds, etc., (some with side effects so nasty that I had to stop taking them) my EF ultimately dipped to a mere 25-30%! Scary to say the least and my energy levels matched those of a slow-moving tortoise. (EF's are always estimated, typically accurate to within about 5 points) Solve one problem (BC) and develop another. LOL I'm happy to report that post heart surgery, I now feel great and boast an EF of 69%. I jog, ride my bike, hike...whatever I want to do with no issues. My surgery was about a year ago and thus far, no complaints and no issues. Following surgery, I only take one (low dosage) blood pressure pill each morning and my doctor thinks that pill can also likely be eliminated in another 3-6 months.

    There were no guarantees that the surgery would improve my heart function or help the damage to my ventricle, etc., to remodel (repair) itself, but I was fortunate and the surgery accomplished everything intended. Every case is different though and not everyone is a candidate for the Minimally Invasive procedure I had. Miracles never cease. Proves that there are, indeed, scalpel carrying angels among us. Those highly skilled, talented, dedicated individuals who care very much and can accomplish amazing things.

    Hope that helps with what an EF is. Additionally, if you google in EJECTION FRACTION, you will find some good explanations and that may help you to better prepare questions for discussion with your doctor.

    All the best.

    Love, light & laughter,
    Ink

    EF
    The average EF is 55-60% which means some are higher and some are lower.
    If you EF changed a great deal from the first one they did the maybe why Herceptin treatment did not start when it should have.

    My experience:
    My first 2 echocardiograms the EF was 55-60%
    Then my third one went 50-55% so my oncologist sent me to a cardiologist. He then ran several more echocardiograms and the results were 50-55% continued Herceptin then 45-50% continued Herceptin and then the last one 58% and then he didn't want me to continue Herceptin. My oncologist got in touch with some of her colleagues that she used to work with and they told her that I could continue Herceptin since my EF went back to the normal. My oncologist will do an echocardiogram every 6 weeks to monitor the EF.

    I also think that it depends on which technician you get. If you have the same one every time then they will measure at the same spots but if you have different ones they may not measure the scan at the same spots. I will have the tech that has been there the longest and that did my first two and the last one from now on. Sometimes the cardiologist look at the measurements that the tech took when they should also look at the actual pictures.

    Hugs,
    Margo
  • spunky56
    spunky56 Member Posts: 12
    #5
    Normal 50-70
    I have had several muga scans. My 1st -I was 67 or 68. My last was 52. I have looked it up on line too so do a search and you can find more about it. Is this your number before treatment? Where in your treatment did you get this number?

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