Question Title: Attempted Angioplasty

My mother underwent an attempted angioplasty about 1.5 yrs ago.

While going through her medical records, I noticed that the day before the attempted angioplasty, her EKG appeared normal. After the attempted angioplasty her EKG read abnormal, changes in T-waves. According to the medical records, she tolerated the attempted angioplasty very well. The angioplasty attempt was unsuccessful because the "probe" could not reach the blockage, which was in a 90-deg turn in a mid-sized artery on back of her heart. With each attempt to further insert the probe, it would try to pucture the artery wall. After 2+ hrs, the procedure had to be stopped. She appeared to recover well and was put on Cardizem and other medications and given nitro for angina attacks. She appeared to eventually do well after the attempted procedure, was a little weak for a while but eventually adjusted to her medications.

I know that sometimes test results can depend on where the leads are, etc., and this can account for a normal/abnormal reading.

Thank you for any help.

Dear JRW,

Thank you for your question. Changes in the T-waves on an EKG are very non-specific and could be due to a number of different things. You are correct that lead placement can change an EKG but this probably does not account for T-wave changes. T-wave changes can be due to more serious things such as heart attack or stroke or due to common things such as a change of posture, change in blood pressure, or increased levels of anxiety. I can’t really say if the attempted angioplasty had anything to do with them or not but I would not be overly concerned about the changes as long as she is doing well from a clinical standpoint.

Information provided here is for general educational purposes only. Only your doctor can provide specific diagnoses and treatments. If you would like to be seen at the Cleveland Clinic, please Call 1 - 800 - CCF - CARE for an appointment at Desk F15 with a cardiologist