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Heart Disease  (Expert Forum)
 | 
ABNORMAL EKGS
Answered by
Cleveland Clinic -
Cleveland - OH
This forum is for questions and support regarding heart issues such as: Angina, Angioplasty, Arrhythmia, Bypass Surgery, Cardiomyopathy, Coronary Artery Disease, Defibrillator, Heart Attack, Heart Disease, High Blood Pressure, Mitral Valve, Pacemaker, PAD, Stenosis, Stress Tests
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MedHelp Member's Question

ABNORMAL EKGS

by tomnya, Apr 06, 2004 12:00AM
I am a 42 year old active female. Weight 115 lbs. Normal BP. Normal cholesterol. I had an abnormal EKG last week which said "cannot rule out anterior infraction" and "non-specific T wave abnormality, improved in anterior leads".

I had another ekg yesterday and this one did not show what the first one did but said "left atrial enlargement" and long Qtc interval.

I was not able to get an appointment with a cardiologist till next week and am extremely worried.

I have no family history of heart disease. My previous EKGs have all been normal.

The only medication I take is Provera 5mg a day for fibroids and cysts.

Also take a multivitamin every day. I play tennis 3 times a week and use the treadmill 3 times a week.

I have never smoked and eat a vegetarian diet.

Hope you can reassure me till my appointment next week.
Doctor's Answer

by Cleveland Clinic, Apr 06, 2004 12:00AM
tomnya,



The technology that interprets the ECGs from the machines is less than perfect. Changes in lead position, or normal variants could easily explain the ECGs. Unfortunatley, without eyeballing them myself, I cannot tell you if this is the case.



If you are not having any symptoms, I wouldn't worry and wait till you see your cardiologist.



good luck
Member Comments (11)

by tomnya, Apr 06, 2004 12:00AM
Thank you so much for your prompt reply. It has made me feel better about the wait to see the cardiologist. I forgot to mention that my doctor also detected a heart murmur for the first time.

by Nutty, Apr 16, 2004 12:00AM
Dear Tomnya:



Like you I am an active lady who just recently had an abnormal ecg.  I was also told about 4 years ago I had a heart murmur.



In trying to educate myself on what is going on, I have read some things that gave me a little relief about possible causes of abnormal readings of ecg's.



One is called and "athletic heart" where people who exercise vigorously and actually have healthy hearts can have abnormal ecg readings that mimic infarction.    



This could be one possibility of an abnormal ecg.



Good luck!



Tina

by tomnya, Apr 19, 2004 12:00AM
thank you Tina

My abnormal EKGs have led me to have an echo, an echo stress and Cardiolite stress test. The Dr said I did very well on the stress tests. Was able to complete all. The echo showed good heart function too. I am waiting to hear from him after he gets the film of my radiolite stress test. I am very anxious and nervous and hope to have some news soon.

It is so frustrating to think I may have heart disease when I have been doing all the right things, not smoking eating well and exercising.

No risk factors, no family history, normal weight BP and cholesterol.

I dont know what else I can be doing.

Thanks for your reassurance about the ekgs.

The abnormal ekgs were the only sign that something may be wrong.

Waiting to hear on the last test.

by trudyjh, Apr 20, 2004 12:00AM
I went thru almost the same thing you are going thru, and my heart turned out to be fine.



First off, the previous post is right, the machines are often wrong in what they say is going on.



Secondly, that nonspecific t wave thing I get a lot - even hyperventilating slightly from nervousness at being in the doc's office can cause it.



Apparently a lot of non-harmful transient things can make an ekg look funny in various ways.



After going thru a misery of anxiety (not helped at all by a bad new cardiologist who looked at the ekg and announced that I might have had a heart attack) everything turned out okay (with a different cardiologist! who took the time to ask me about any symptoms and then did the tests.)



If you feel fine, you probably are fine.



by Barbarella, Apr 20, 2004 12:00AM
I had 3 abnormal EKG's within 2 months.  One said "previous heart attack" (don't remember the exact terminology), the second one said "brady cardia", the third one said "none-specific ST segment abnormality".  To make a long story short,  I never had a heart attack, and the cardiologist told me that so many computerized EKG's come back with false readings of a "prior heart attack" that he doesn't even take them all that serious anymore, but it needs to be further investigated.  My BP was severely elevated (my first EKG was done in the ER) and I had PVC's.  Second EKG did not mention a "prior heart attack" but mentioned the brady cardia which was caused from the beta blockers I was on (I'm now off of them).  The third EKG again showed no "prior heart attack" but showed only the "none specific ST segments" my cardiologist told me "there are none-specific, don't worry about them". I had an echo gram done which showed "severe mitral valve regurgiation" (don't know if I spelled that right, its a backflow of the blood into the lungs) A second test was done which was a TEE test (transesophogicalechogram) I think it is, I had a probe inserted in my esophogus so the cardiologist could see how severe my leakage of the mitral valve was.  It turned out NO SEVERE leakage at all as the echocardiogram previously had stated, but only a mild mitral valve leakage.  So mild that my cardiologist said I don't even have to have follow ups or have to be pre-medicated when going to the dentist.

So you see folks, if you get a test which is "abnormal" please DON'T freak out right away as I did, I worried so much you have no idea.  WAIT until you get the next more accurate test.

by tomnya, Apr 22, 2004 12:00AM
Thank you for all the advice and support. All my other tests came back normal. This forum and all the wonderful people who take the time to resposnd have been life savers.

Thanks once again to the doctors too. You do a wonderful job of keeping us calm till we see the doctor or get the test results.

by ferretcat, Aug 08, 2004 12:00AM
Hi

I came upon this site doing a search of abnormal EKG.  My 14 year old daughter had an abnormal EKG after her potassium level came out high on a blood test.  (it was determined later that most likely her potassium was a lab error)



Her EKG print out stated sinus rythm with PACs.  Inferior and anterior T wave changes.  The next week I took her to a cardiologist who repeated the EKG and it again had abnormal T wave.  Right now she is scheduled for en echocardiogram in late September.  All her other tests checked out fine and we've been told not to worry and not to restrict her sports participation.  Of course, I am worried and I was looking for any insite anyone here might have.

by gottofish, Aug 13, 2004 12:00AM
I sit here this Friday evening with my anxiety at a 12 on a 1 to 10 scale after being called by my physicians office relative to an abnormal stress cardiolite.  I was requested to not go to work this weekend (shiftwork) and stay inactive until Monday when an appointment with a cardiologists can be made. I am a 48 year old male who over the past 4 or 5 years have dealt with many stress realted issues (divorce, fathers passing, etc)including panic attacks and in the past 6 months high blood pressure.  I presently take 5mg of Altace for the BP issue and do not get the exercise I should get.  I am a previous runner and am 20 pounds heavier than I should be (5'10" 215 pounds mesomorph frame).  I had an echo stress test done April a year ago and my heart internal blood flow was fine.  All of this is is the result of intermittent chest tightness symptoms that I conveyed to my physician over the past year. Now I sit here this evening with my mind thinking the worst.  How accurate are the stress cardiolite tests and what can I expect if they do a heart cath on me?  What are the risks associated with the cath?

by Melodie, Aug 23, 2004 12:00AM
I am a 48 year old woman in generally good health.  I have six kids, my youngest is 6 the oldest is 28.  Within the first