Ejection fraction: Meaning in a Radiology Report

Also written as: EF, LVEF, left ventricular ejection fraction, gallbladder ejection fraction

Ejection fraction is the percentage of blood the heart's main pumping chamber pushes out with each beat. It is also used for gallbladder emptying.

What it means

Ejection fraction is the percentage of its contents that a chamber pushes out when it squeezes. Most often it refers to the left ventricle, the heart's main pumping chamber. It can be measured by echocardiogram, cardiac MRI or a nuclear heart scan. A HIDA scan, a nuclear medicine scan of the gallbladder, uses the same idea. There it measures how much bile the gallbladder empties after a medicine that makes it contract.

When it matters

For the heart, roughly 50 to 70 percent is normal. From 41 to 49 is mildly reduced, and 40 or below is reduced, meaning the heart muscle pumps less strongly. Each method gives slightly different numbers, so changes on the same type of test are most useful. For the gallbladder, a value below about 35 to 40 percent is usually called low. It suggests poor emptying, which doctors weigh with your symptoms.

Questions to ask your doctor

Is my ejection fraction normal for the test that was used?
How does this number compare with my previous measurements?
If my gallbladder ejection fraction is low, could it explain my pain?

General information, not medical advice. What a finding means for you depends on your symptoms, your history and the images themselves, so talk your results through with a doctor.