ECG switched leads?

[sagesparrow]

I went into the ER with chest pain a few weeks back. Ran an ECG which said cannot rule out anterior infarct, age undetermined. Nurse told me I had had heart attack at some point.

However, doctor came in (after 30 minutes me freaking out) and said leads were probably reversed, not to worry.

I've been to my endocrinologist (thyroid problems), my primary, and a family member who used to work cardiac care...all agree, ECG is normal, even though it doesn't SAY it's normal.

Can I safely relax here? It's got me SO stressed. Especially since I've been having new palpitations. They never even bothered to run a second ECG so I just feel anxiety over it.

Thanks!

[erijon]

The same thing happened to me years ago. I went in for my annual workup and they did an EKG and then the cardiologist came in to speak with me. We were having a normal discussion when she got to the EKG strip and just froze. She immediately asked me if I had experienced any chest pain in the past few months and just would not stop and went on and on. Finally she had a more "experienced" tech come in and repeat the test. After she hooked me up the cardiologist called her into the hall outside the door but still in ear shot. I heard the cardiologist tell her to bring the strip to her immediately and if it was the same we were going directly to the cath lab.

Long story short, the second strip was fine and it was just a bad lead placement. I think you can trust your doctor on this one

[Flycaster305]

A second test will probably also suggest a past heart issue.  Very, very few of us have hearts that work to perfection and the computer might pick up some small variation and issue that report.  Lead placement will certainly cause such a report.  I would relax, a doctor's visual is far more accurate.  Also, a ECG shows an 8 second window of the heart, and is most valuable as a tool to pick up gross problems such as an in-progress heart attack.