ekg

[river533]

vent rate 78 bpm
pr interval 136 ms
qrs duration 78ms
qt/qtc 404/460 ms
p-r-t axes 63 60 25

I am a 37 year old non smoker (female) who has about 10 alcoholic beverages monthly. Use citalipram at 20 mg daily. Are these results normal?

[dave1726]

  The QTc interval could be of some concern. Basically, how it works is the QT interval is the combination of the QRS complex, the ST segment and the T wave. The QRS complex is ventricular depolarization, which is the bottom part of your heart (the important part since the left ventricle pumps blood to the body and the right ventricle pumps to the lungs), actually beating (action potential). The ST segment is the time between depolarization and repolarization. Repolarization is when the heart "re-charges." Think of it like contract, pause, relax, although that's not totally correct, nor is it that simple. But if it takes too long for the repolarization to occur you can end up with something called an R on T phenomenon. The R is the apex of the QRS (ventricular depolarization), which is when it is beating. If the repolarization lands on the previous depolarization (The T on the R on the EKG) then you can set off an electrical storm in your heart called torsades de pointes. This is a type of polymorphic ventricular tachycardia, which means it is an irregular, very fast heart beat originating from the ventricles, and it is coming from multiple points of origin (i.e. poly as opposed to monomorphic). This TDP can degenerate into V-fib which is when the heart stops pumping enough blood, because it is quivering instead of actually beating, since it is going so fast. When this happens you go into cardiac arrest and die. There are a number of things that could cause the QTc interval to be too long. (QTc just means QT interval corrected for HR, with the point of reference being 60BPM). In your case 404ms at 78BPM corresponds to 460ms if your heart was beating 60BPM. It is the QTc, not the QT that is important. Certain genetic mutations that affect the potassium or sodium ion channels could cause this problem. That is what happens in Long QT Syndrome. However, this does not seem to be likely in your case. This is because you are taking 20mg of Citalipram daily. Citalipram is marked on the QT Drugs website as a drug that holds a strong possibility of causing QTc interval prolognation and the potentially lethal torsades de pointes. I would, thus, encourage you to talk to your doctor about looking into getting off that medicine. However, it would also be wise to undergo a repeat EKG and be referred to a cardiologist (if you have not already) so they can see if anything else is wrong with your heart which may be causing any symptoms you have, or the abnormal EKG result. In your case 460ms is not super alarming. The normal range for women is about 360ms-450ms, so you are just beyond that, but up to 2% of the population has a QTc of 460ms+ just because as a normal healthy variant, so that could be you as well. Or the machine could have overestimated the QTc. It is best to have a cardiologist (preferably an electrophysiologist) measure the QTc with his or her capilares.

[spade22]

Your QTc is borderline high.  Several things can cause this and you should have a follow up visit with an EP to monitor that valued.  I'm not sure about your other numbers.

Why did you have a EKG?