Understanding Your Heart Test Results
Your heart shows some thickening of the walls with mildly enlarged pumping chamber, but your heart's squeezing function is preserved at 57%, which is normal. The main finding is that your heart muscle has become slightly stiff, making it harder for your heart to relax and fill with blood between beats (grade 1 diastolic dysfunction), though this is the mildest form 1, 2.
What Each Finding Means
The Pumping Chamber (Left Ventricle)
Mildly dilated with increased wall thickness: Your heart's main pumping chamber is slightly larger than normal and the walls are thicker 3. This typically occurs when your heart has been working harder over time, often due to conditions like high blood pressure 3.
Normal wall motion: All parts of your heart muscle are contracting properly, with no areas of weakness 4. This is reassuring as it suggests no significant prior heart attacks or areas of damaged muscle.
LVEF 57%: Your ejection fraction of 57% falls within the normal range of 50-70% 3, 4. This means your heart is squeezing effectively and pumping out a normal percentage of blood with each beat.
The Relaxation Problem (Diastolic Dysfunction)
Grade 1 diastolic dysfunction: This is the mildest form of a stiffness problem where your heart muscle doesn't relax as easily as it should between beats 1, 2. Think of it like a rubber band that has lost some of its flexibility—it still works, but doesn't snap back quite as easily.
This condition is common, especially in people with high blood pressure or as part of normal aging 1, 5. It means your heart has to work slightly harder to fill with blood, which can eventually lead to increased pressures in the heart chambers.
The good news: Grade 1 is the earliest and mildest stage 2. Many people with this finding remain stable for years, and it has a much better prognosis than problems with the heart's squeezing function, with annual mortality around 8% compared to 19% for systolic dysfunction 1.
The Right Side of Your Heart
Normal RV size and function: The right side of your heart (which pumps blood to your lungs) is working normally 3.
Mildly elevated RVSP at 31 mmHg: The pressure in your lung circulation is slightly elevated (normal is typically below 30 mmHg) 3. This mild elevation often occurs when the left side of the heart becomes stiffer, causing some backup of pressure.
The Valves and Atrium
Mild left atrial dilation: The upper left chamber of your heart is slightly enlarged 3. This happens when the stiff left ventricle creates higher pressures, causing the atrium to stretch over time.
Mild TR and PR: You have small amounts of leakage in the tricuspid and pulmonary valves on the right side of your heart 3. These are very minor and commonly seen, especially with the mild pressure elevation noted.
What This Means Clinically
Your heart findings suggest a pattern consistent with early hypertensive heart disease or age-related changes 3. The combination of increased wall thickness, mild chamber dilation, preserved pumping function, and grade 1 diastolic dysfunction is a classic presentation 3, 1.
The key distinction here is that you have diastolic heart failure risk rather than systolic heart failure 5. Your heart squeezes normally but has early signs of stiffness that could progress if underlying causes (like high blood pressure) aren't controlled 1, 2.
Important Caveats
These findings exist on a spectrum between normal athletic heart adaptation and early disease 3. Your doctor will need to consider your symptoms, blood pressure history, and other risk factors to determine the significance.
Grade 1 diastolic dysfunction can be influenced by heart rate, blood pressure at the time of testing, and hydration status 1. It's not always a fixed finding.
The mild pressure elevations and valve leakage are likely secondary to the diastolic dysfunction rather than primary valve disease 3.