
My Son Had A Heart Problem About Eight Years Ago.

Question: My son had a heart problem about eight years ago. His ejection fraction was 24. He wore a "life vest" for six months and his heart recovered to an ejection fraction of 50. In the last few weeks he's had some extremely low blood pressure readings. The lowest reading he had was 75/35 but he had several with the bottom number in the 40s and the top number in the 90s. He saw his primary care doctor who didn't seem concerned with the low readings. He's not had any other symptoms. His heart rate has been in the 50s and 60s. I'm just very worried because of the serious heart problem he had before. I don't know the term that they called his condition other than cardiomyopathy. He takes lisinopril and bystolic because he's had a history of high blood pressure since he was in his mid 20s. He sees his heart doctor in three weeks but I'm worried about waiting that long if this is any indication of a return of his heart problem. Can you please advise?
Brief Answer:
Further details needed
Detailed Answer:
Thanks so using the Ask a Doctor service.
I have gone carefully through the details but unfortunately they are not conclusive. I need to ask you whether in his childhood your son suffered from any fever associated with pain of joints. Rheumatic fever could lead to heart diseases that cause the heart valves to be leaky and that could lead to low ejection fraction or low blood pressure.
I would insist you to talk soon your son's treating physician and ask him about the underlying pathology. Alternatively, if you can procure the medical notes and upload them here, I can guide for further.
Regards
Further details needed
Detailed Answer:
Thanks so using the Ask a Doctor service.
I have gone carefully through the details but unfortunately they are not conclusive. I need to ask you whether in his childhood your son suffered from any fever associated with pain of joints. Rheumatic fever could lead to heart diseases that cause the heart valves to be leaky and that could lead to low ejection fraction or low blood pressure.
I would insist you to talk soon your son's treating physician and ask him about the underlying pathology. Alternatively, if you can procure the medical notes and upload them here, I can guide for further.
Regards
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Vaishalee Punj


No he had no history of rheumatic fever. The doctors did not know what caused his original heart problem. They said he could've had a virus that caused an inflammation of the heart and that led to the damage that caused his low ejection fraction. It was miraculous that his heart function improved to the extent it did. One of the cardiologists that he saw when his problem first started talked to us about a possible heart transplant in the future. We had little hope that he would ever have the improvement that he did. He's been on a low carbohydrate diet for several months and has lost about 20-25 pounds. I wondered if the weight loss might have contributed to his lower blood pressure and if he should decrease his high blood pressure medicine. He has said that he feels fine. It's just puzzling that he's having such low pressures after having high blood pressure for the last 13 years. I don't have access to any of his medical records or results from tests. His doctors are very uncommunicative in my opinion. The cardiologist usually tells him he's doing fine and cone back in six months.
Brief Answer:
No need to worry
Detailed Answer:
Pardon me for the inadvertent delay in responding.
The low carb diet is the likely cause of his weight loss, which in turn, is responsible for the low blood pressure. Since he is otherwise doing fine you need not worry any further.
Regards
No need to worry
Detailed Answer:
Pardon me for the inadvertent delay in responding.
The low carb diet is the likely cause of his weight loss, which in turn, is responsible for the low blood pressure. Since he is otherwise doing fine you need not worry any further.
Regards
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Prasad

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