Muga Scores?
 

Where do you get your Muga scores from? I just had an EKG and ultrasound of my heart done today. They just said everything was fine. Didn't give me any score or anything. Would my oncologist have it?...sherry

So a MUGA is a different test than an EKG? Is an EKG and ultrasound sufficient or do I need to request a MUGA too? I don't see my Oncologist until next week. ...sherry

Yeah, an electro-cardiogram looks at the electrical impulses and an ultrasound looks at the heart. While, they can tell if the heart is enlarged, they may not know how effectively it is pumping without the radioactive contrast. Waiting till next week is fine. It takes 1-2 days to get a test result. Normal is anywhere from 55-high 60's, I believe. Hope I could help!

My cardiologist does an echo-cardiogram every 3 months to check my LVEF. I do not have MUGA scans. So far my LVEF has been within the normal limits.

Your muga score
 

Sherry, your MUGA score (or ECHO if you have that) should be on the report. Ask your doctor what the number is. You are looking for the LVEF, or left ventricle ejection fraction. If your doctor said it is normal, that is good -go with that for now! But ask your doctor what the range is, and what the number is! Just be aware, the report may not show the number. If not, you should raise heck about it before next time.

My first 2 or 3 come back with no number on it, the report actually said "left ventricle ejection fraction is normal" or nothing at all related to it! This drove me nuts - maybe it's the accountant in me, or needing to feel that I had SOMETHING I could track!
The next time I went in (by now I know the tech) I asked him why the number wasn't on there, and he told me that the cardiologist who read it either didn't put it on the report, or that he (the tech) didn't get it. He said it is technically difficult to get on me because I have a left implant. So I told him well, the only reason I'm here is for the LVEF, so we're going to get it and its going to be easy! Boy was he sweating! Then he wrote all over the notes that he needed that to be on the report and lo and behold its there ever since.
My oncologist also called the hospital where I have it done and read them the riot act - he's sending all these Herceptin women over there for this test, he needs that to be reported out. No more problems with the reports!
As I said, normal is good - but you really can't track "normal"!
Take care
Chris

Hey Sherry,

The ultrasound is the Echo. I've switched from MUGA's to ECHO's, my request. I think the echo's are lower tech, older, but probably do the job. My onc doesn't tell the score, only "it's fine". I asked the onc nurse during an infusion, only to make sure that the results had actually come back, and she told me what all my scores were.

The onc was probably right in not telling me they were going down during AC. I would have stressed. I am thrilled that they're going up with Herceptin and CoQ10.

Sherry - I'm kinda new to this and doing research for my sis-in-law who has stage 3 her2 bc. I am really getting confused with the abbreviations... what is MUGA and what is NED? Sorry, I am trying to get her going online tomorrow and start asking questions or contacting people. Unfortunately, she's in Germany, however, she speaks Spanish but barely English so I guess I'm the translator. I found out that this website is still the best one out here in order to get information and of course support. And she is in desperate need for that. She's about to give up because her family has a history of cancer and noone survived yet, now she's afraid that it'll metastasises... (which thank goodness it hasn't yet...) and currently she's on chemo and got her first round of herceptin with taxotere (even the news made it to Germany - go figure... took quite some research though). Anyhow, I posted a few days ago but don't seem to get any response and I am still trying to figure out how this posting works.

Many thanks,
Moni

Moni, ned = no evidence of disease. Muga is a gated evaluation of left ventricle ejection fraction of the heart. How efficiently you're moving blood from one side of the heart to the other. 50 to 60 seems to be normal. I think the cutoff to discontinue drugs seems to be around 45. I think an ECHO is a satisfactory substitute for MUGA. I prefer echo, more human interaction, but the human interaction part may make it less reliable. MUGA involves injecting a nuclear agent, and having a large camera circling your body for 30 minutes. It/s truly painless but I disliked it. I just feel it's overkill in my case. ECHO is a sonogram.

Heart problems only seem to occur in 4 % so I'm hanging my hat with doing Herceptin. Best of luck. Lot's of stage 3 here that have ned along time. There/s no reason you can't hope for the best. All you can do is stay informed.

Muga
 

Bev, thanks so much for your clarification. Our main concern is her spirit right now which is very low. She had bladder cancer for the longest time, so far for now she's "NED" regarding bladder cancer but got diagnosed in April with bc her2+++. At the end of this year she's scheduled for the mastectomy. It doesn't seem she's too happy with her onc, however, she doesn't feel safe changing to a new one during chemo and now treatment with herceptin and taxotere. She's also scared because everyone in her family's background that had any form of cancer did not survive. Currently, her red blood cells are very low, I guess 3,500 is normal and hers are around 1,200 or so. I'll let you know if I get her to sign on later today - I am sure she could use some help with a few steps and I so much appreciate the overall spirit and help here.

Moni

Moni,

My oncologist performs the echo-cardiogram every 3 months to test my heart. If the LVEF goes below 50 Herceptin will be stopped until the number comes up again. As for low blood counts -- during my chemo my red and white blood cells dropped. For the red blood cell count I received a shot of Procrit every week and for the white blood cell count I received a shot of Nuelasta the day after chemo. I finished my chemo May 17th and now am doing Herceptin every week. My blood counts are finally where they should be. I will start my radiation on Monday. This is a great site and you and your sister should get a lot of moral support and also a wealth of information.