q waves

during an exercise test the doctor commented to a medical student that i had q waves.  what is the significance. but  

[is_something_wrong]

I'm not sure how much you know about EKG readings, if you don't understand the answer, just tell me :-)

A Q wave is the first downstroke of the QRS complex. It's not always present, at least not in all channels (angles of the heart).

Q waves are to some degree normal, and represent the depolarization of septum (wall between heart chambers). If the Q waves are very deep or wide, they may represent areas of the heart not conducting electricity (thus, the voltage drops, creating this downstroke). This areas is often caused by earlier infarctions.

I have Q waves in my EKG, without any structural heart disease. They are obviously "borderline" thus from time to time, my EKG reading come back as "abnormal - old infarct". It's really annoying.

You should ask your doctor if the Q waves are significant (should be investigated further) or not.

Best wishes :-)