Anybody know how to read an ECG? Images inside.

[Stay_Frosty]

Due to ongoing heart rhythm issues, I've gone off the deep end and bought myself a holter monitor. It's been showing PACs (at least a few on a daily basis), a much more rare PVC, and even some short lived bursts of SVT during sleep.

I plan on bringing some of the rhythms I've captured to my cardiologist, but until then, I figure it can't hurt to ask here.

I picked up a palpitation the other day and I was presented with this bizzare pattern on lead V5:

http://i.imgur.com/M1JKCs3.png

When I view the other leads (V1 and V3), they look much more like PVCs:

http://i.imgur.com/PKvrOSY.png

From what I understand, there is something called "aberrant" PACs which can produce a wide complex similar to PVCs/vtach.

So what's going on here? Aberrant PACs/SVT? PVC triplet with a pause? Other?

Appreciate any input!

[Stay_Frosty]

Yeah, unfortunately it has consumed my life for the past year. I've been getting a little better though, actually going out with friends and such.

It amazes me that I never had so much as a skipped beat for the first 27 years of my life. At least nothing that I noticed. Then I turn 28 (29 now) and my life comes crashing down. All sorts of nasty chest sensations, spasms, pains, back pains, and now these premature beats and short runs.

Meanwhile all of my friends are living normal lives without a care in the world. I remember those days...

[MichelleP_3811]

I am like you, I feel better when I am informed about what is going on.  Keep me in the dark and my mind goes all sorts of places it shouldn't.  That said, at some point we do have to accept that what is happening isn't going to lead to our death.  At least not so long as we maintain a healthy lifestyle and keep our heart healthy.  I have all sorts of oddness with my heart from time to time, little runs of things I really don't know for sure what they are but they never last very long so I trust that my heart will correct itself when necessary.  It is frustrating at times when they hurt and become uncomfortable but I trust that I am not in any danger from it.  So try to do your best to not let this take over your life or you run the risk of missing out on life and you deserve to have happiness.  

[helyanna]

There is a book: The Only EKG Book You'll Ever Need, Sixth Edition by Malcolm S. Thaler; Wolters Kluwer/Lippicott Williams & Wilkins.
Sorry, busy now.

[Stay_Frosty]

heh, I know, I'm nuts.

I had a run of NSVT in the past. I bought the holter so I could monitor myself on a daily basis and see if the NSVT was still occurring, and if so, how often.

I also wanted to know what some of the intense chest/throat sensations I was getting were. The monitor proved that they were isolated premature beats, so that calmed me a lot.

Bottom line, I'm not trying to diagnose myself in any way. Just seeing if I'm getting any runs, and if so how often and how they correlate with my symptoms. And of course, it gives me more data to show to my cardiologist, otherwise I go in empty handed and he dismisses me as fine.

[achillea]

Wow.  Have you had any EKG classes?  I ask because although this is not rocket science, reading these things intelligently does require a number of hours of anatomy and physiology, followed by a stint in the cardiology rotation--and then one has to consider the circumstances of the individual, real patient.  Do you have the background for that?

In any case, I did ask a physiologist I know what he thought, in general terms, and here is his answer:

"Looks like 3 PVCs in quick succession, followed by a return to sinus rhythm.  No harm, no foul.  But see a cardiologist for a professional opinion, for sure!"

IOW, you're probably not in any real danger, but you need to talk over your concerns with a cardiologist.

Oh, and unless you are a med student--or maybe ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE ONE--get rid of the Holter monitor.  A good doc does not diagnose himself or his family.