Understanding Your Test Results

A CardioAdvocate Guide to Reading What Your Doctor Reads

CardioAdvocate.com  |  Updated February 2026

Medical Disclaimer: This content is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Your test results should always be interpreted by your physician or healthcare provider in the context of your individual clinical picture.

Why This Guide Exists

In 2016, the 21st Century Cures Act became law. Among its provisions, it established that patients have the right to immediate, electronic access to their health records — including test results, imaging reports, pathology findings, and clinical notes. This was expanded and enforced through the ONC Information Blocking Rule in 2021.

The intention was noble: transparency, empowerment, ownership of your own health data.

The reality has been more complicated.

Many of these reports were never designed to be read by patients. They were written by specialists for specialists — using technical language, abbreviations, and clinical shorthand that communicate efficiently between trained clinicians but can be deeply confusing, frightening, or misleading to someone without that training.

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You are not alone if you have opened your MyChart portal, read a test result, and felt a wave of anxiety. You are not alone if phrases like “diastolic dysfunction,” “cannot rule out anterior infarct,” “mild atherosclerosis,” or “reversible perfusion defect” made your heart race. This is normal. The language was not written for you — but the information is yours, and you deserve to understand it.

This page is the home for a growing series from CardioAdvocate: "How to Understand My Test Results." Each guide walks you through a common cardiac test, explains the language you will encounter, and helps you understand what matters, what is likely normal, and what questions to bring to your next appointment.

These guides are designed to grow over time. Think of them as living resources. And eventually, they will serve as the foundation for a tool that allows you to upload or scan your own report for a personalized, plain-language interpretation.

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Part 1

Understanding Your Echocardiogram Report

Ejection fraction, diastolic dysfunction, wall motion, valve findings, and more — explained in plain language.

Covers: Left ventricle (size, thickness, EF, wall motion, diastolic function) • Right ventricle • Atria • All four heart valves • Great vessels • Pericardium • Estimated pulmonary pressures

Part 2 — Coming Soon

Understanding Your Stress Test Results

Treadmill stress testing, nuclear stress tests, and stress echocardiograms — what the results actually tell your cardiologist.

Covers: Exercise capacity • ST-segment changes • Perfusion defects • Wall motion with stress • Duke Treadmill Score • Fixed vs. reversible defects

Part 3 — Coming Soon

Understanding Your EKG Report

And why “cannot rule out anterior infarct” probably does not mean what you think.

Covers: Sinus rhythm • Bundle branch blocks • Axis deviation • ST/T-wave changes • QTc prolongation • Common false positives in women

Part 4 — Coming Soon

Understanding Your Lipid Panel

Why non-HDL cholesterol matters more than ratios, and what your doctor may not be reporting.

Covers: LDL-C • Non-HDL-C • ApoB • Triglycerides • The problem with ratios • Lp(a) • When “normal” isn’t good enough

Part 5 — Coming Soon

Understanding Your CT Reports

Finding the language that suggests coronary disease — even when the scan was ordered for something else.

Covers: Coronary calcium score • “Atherosclerosis” on chest CT • Mild/moderate/severe calcification • Incidental cardiac findings • When to ask for cardiology follow-up