Probable LVH, tachycardia, non specific t-wave abnormalities

[djkyphosis]

I am a 28 year old male, severe scoliosis/kyphosis, one kidney, hypertension, also have panic disorder/anxiety. I had an EKG in an ER done in Jan of 2006 that showed *normal*, Was having a panic/aniety attack recently (april 2008) and went to the ER,  had an EKG & CT scan the ER doc told me my EKG was fine, and CT scan was negative, however when I obtained a copy of it for my records it showed Probable LVH, non specific T-wave abnormalities and tachycardia, I was very nervous ant the time and was wondering if that could be a factor for any of those findings other than the tachycardia (obviously). And why would the ER doc tell me it was fine in this case?

[Michael J. McWilliams, M.D.]

The role of ER doctors for the most part is triaging who is sick and who is not.  If there is something big wrong --- pneumonia, pulmonary embolism, etc, they will tell.  If an EKG has possible LVH, it does not surprise me that it was not discussed and to be honest I wouldn't necessarily expect them to.  

EKG software often overcalls LVH.  It is worth talking to your doctor.  If they are concerned after reading the EKG, they will probably order an echocardiogram.

I hope this helps.

[kat4]

Hi, another layperson here - my ekg printouts often say non specific T-wave abnormalities.  The machines suck about interpretations, according to my doctor, so I would pay no attention to that if your doc is not worried.  A former cardiologist actually used to have turned off the part of the machine that did interpretations for that reason.