My husband who is 73 was diagnosed with high blood pressure four months ago, and prescribed Amolodipine which has brought his bp within normal range. He had an EKG and was then told to have an echo. He has now been told that the 'echo' showed 'low flow' and is being referred to a cardiologist. He has no symptoms of heart problems. How worried should we be? I assume he has heart disease, but what questions should we ask?
I googled "low flow" and got hits for low ejection fraction and low heart rate, so you probably should first qualify what is meant by "low flow."
Or, does your husband have various symptoms but you perhaps didn't realise they could be connected with heart disease?
An echocardiogram is essentially an ultrasound of the heart. It's a very useful test, allowing the physiologist or radiographer to take all kinds of measurements of what shape the heart is in and how well it is performing. Also, it's quite an interesting show! - if you enjoy seeing what's going on, that is.
Many kinds of chronic heart disease are very manageable. As an anecdotal example, my mother presented with left ventricular heart failure in 1995 - the result of rheumatic fever in childhood - and lived until 2015, leading her "normal" life (she liked world travel, heaven help us) until about 2011. Then again... she never smoked, never drank to excess, was never overweight (though her diet was lamentable) and was always quite active.
One figure your cardiologist will probably explain is the Ejection Fraction. This is the measurement of how well the heart is emptying between beats - the heart muscle relaxes, allowing blood to flow in to the chambers, then contracts, squeezing blood out and into the arteries. The EF relates to how much blood is being squeezed out. Normal is around 55% in a healthy adult. It can get a lot lower than that before you run into real trouble.
For the first appointment, it is best to listen and take notes. Make a further appointment to clarify anything you're still concerned about or haven't understood. Once you've heard the formal diagnosis, you will almost certainly also be able to get useful information from the American Heart Association at www.heart.org.
At 73 your husband is comparatively young; and with good medical care supported by sensible lifestyle adjustments, God willing, he should have plenty of miles in him yet :)
Since your DH has no decernable symptoms (for having ‘low flow’ ejection) it seems this was noticed while treating the high BP and giving his heart a checkup.
But ask how far along this malady is (early)? What should be expected as time goes on? What lifestyle changes should be followed?
Sometimes I take my hubby or daughter with me on appointments and they take notes. I remember pretty well what the doctor says but not perfectly.
This first appointment with the cardiologist is for the doc and you/hubby to figure out what’s going on with your hubby’s heart. You’ll all be learning.
If the doctor seems to rush through appointment then a second opinion might be good. Good luck to you both. Stay calm. Sometimes doctors will scare me to death and later, when I go over the notes/etc, I see the dramatic performance that doc was laying on, apparently to drum up future business!