Ejection Fraction- One of the parameters to know healthy heart

• 29th September 2015

The fact you could only decipher while going through the few illegible lines written on your prescription that you have (LVEF). In everyday life non-medical persons are not well aware of this term LVEF.

Do you know what LVEF is? Did your physician explain this term to you? In case you are not explained …

LVEF is Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction. Ejection fraction is a measurement that is done for determining that how well your heart pumps with each beat. During each cycle of heart beat the heart contracts and relaxes.  When the heart contracts it ejects an amount of blood from the 2 ventricles, when the heart relaxes the ventricles are filled with blood again. During contraction the total amount of blood is not transferred from the ventricles. Ejection Fraction is used to measure the percentage of blood pumped out during each heat beat.

As the left ventricle is the main pumping chamber therefore Ejection Fraction is only measured in Left Ventricle and that is how it is denoted at LVEF or Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction

Normal LVEF = 55% and above

Reduced LVEF = 50% and below

Ejection Fraction Measurement	What does it Mean
55-70%	Normal
40-55%	Below Normal
Less than 40%	May confirm diagnosis of heart failure
<35%	Patient may be at risk of life-threatening irregular heartbeats

Reasons of decreased LVEF

1. Weak heart muscles
2. A damaged heart due to Heart Attack
3. Problems in the valves of the heart
4. Chronic uncontrolled blood pressure

How is Ejection Fraction measured?

Ejection Fraction can be measured through 4 different ways

1. ECG – Echocardiography
2. Angiogram
3. MRI
4. CT Scan of the heart

But an important fact is that, Ejection Fraction is just one parameter to measure the functioning of heart. People having normal Ejection Fraction can have a heart ailment. Consult your physician in case of any heart ailment.

• ByDesun Hospital