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What's your Ejection Fraction (EF)?
The
proportion, or fraction, of blood pumped out of your heart with
each beat is called the ejection fraction. A normal heart pumps
out a little more than half the heart's volume of blood with each
beat. A normal EF is 55 percent or higher. Your doctor can order
simple, painless tests such as an echocardiogram that creates
a moving picture of your heart using harmless soundwaves, or a
nuclear medicine test that shows how well your heart is pumping.
If your EF is abnormally low, you may need further tests to see
if you have an abnormal heart rhythm.
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| Know
Your Heart |
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| Warning
Signs |
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| Heart
Attack |
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Many people who have survived a heart attack can benefit from an
implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD), a pacemaker-like device
that treats ventricular fibrillation (VF), the deadly heart rhythm
that causes sudden cardiac death. Recently, several large clinical
studies were conducted to see if ICDs could prevent sudden cardiac
death in people whose heart muscle - and its pumping ability - is
damaged by a heart attack. People in the studies had an ejection
fraction (EF) of 40 or below. In these studies, survival rates were
significantly greater for people with ICDs than for people who received
traditional medical care.
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| Do
you know your EF?
If you don't, ask your doctor. It could save your life.
Ventricular
fibrillation (VF) is a deadly arrhythmia. In VF, the electrical
signals that trigger the heartbeat become very fast and chaotic
in the lower chambers of the heart. The heart no longer can pump
blood to the brain or body. Without immediate emergency help, the
heart cannot recover. Sudden cardiac death is a leading cause of
death in the U.S. VF is the leading cause of sudden cardiac death |
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©
Copyright 2006, Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology. All rights
reserved |
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