Help Interpeting EKG

[samjul123]

Can someone please help me out . I went to the Dr for upper stomach problem but because I have costo condritis he also did an ECG ...the ECG came back as

Vent rate 89 pbpm
pr interval 130 ms
qrs duration 68 ms
qt/qtc 352/428ms
p.tr.t axes 79 62 68

Normal Sinus Rhythm
Nonspecific ST abnormality
Abnormal ECG
He said this is normal for me ...what does that mean .
I asked them if this was of concern he said no ..he said he compared this to an older one and it was the same but I want to know if I should have my family dr go further with this ..I am concerned
I am 40 yr old women with only thyroid prblem and costo and anxiety ...I am not over weight 128 pds  I walk 3x a week dont drink or even drink caffene ...the only thing I do is smoke about 4 a day but I am now so afraid that I am going to try to quit as of today I am already trying not to go out for a smoke ...
I would really like a response because I am terified. I am now afraid to work out or eat or anything ....

[samjul123]

Thank you both so much ...but I am still very fearful ..long story short .
I suffer from costocondritis,thyroid , panic and anxiety so everytime I get the costo really bad I have to go get checked out so just imagine my panic when I got the ECG and it said Abnormal ...my anxiety is thru the roof ...
I dont know if I can still speed walk I dont want to eat or drink or over work myself for fear of something happening ...
I am not short of breath
I do not have any abmornal chest pain or pressure my blood pressure is good sometimes low at night ...did all my blood work and physical in July 2012 including ECG and chest xray blood work all came back normal ...so
I dont understand this

There is no history in my family of heart desease or heart prblems or attacks ...what can this possibly be ....

I am so afraid right now is there anyone else out there who has the same thing and how do you live.

[Midijane]

Hello Samjul,

Just saw your post. Just looking at the EKG info you provided, I can tell you that your heart rate is 89 beats per minute (ventricular rate) which is fine and you are in a normal sinus rhythm which is perfect. I only recognize your qt interval as within the normal range, not sure about the other numbers. My guess as to why "abnormal EKG" is listed is because of the monspecific ST abnormality. My experience has been that a lot of folks have this abnormality and the docs will always compare your EKG to prior EKGs. As long as the two look the same and you havent been symptomatic, docs dont usually get too worried about the nonspecific abnormalities. There are other things that docs look to in the reading of an EKG to determine if a person is having heart trouble (ie... Ischemia, which means lack of oxygen).

But I do agree with spade above that if this worrying you too much, persue it with your primary doc.

Take care and feel better.

[spade22]

Hi there!

An  EKG gives a lot of information about the heart and certain features will always be similar (kind of like a fingerprint) "unless" something significant  changes and that would be seen on the EKG.  When your doctor says your EKG is normal for you, it means that there are certain features seen on the EKG that were there in the past - nothing has changed which is good news.

Computer interpretation of an EKG can often result in mistakes  - an experienced dr needs to review the EKG to determine if the computers interpretation is on base.  my EKGs state I have left atrial enlargement, which is not the case.  I have seen many others post on this site stating something similar.

What it comes down to is whether your can trust/live with your doctors interpretation of your EKG (you can't reply on what the computer says).  If you don't feel comfortable with your doctors analysis, then you need to seek a second opinion, preferably from a cardiologist.  It's ok to tell our doctor that you really feel uncomfortable with the findings and would like a referral to a cardiologist for your peace of mind.