how long yall had early repolarization for?
I to had an ecg that read early repolarization, I to was frustrated with the doctor when he said it was not a heart attack. I was frustrated because I never got a clear answer of why I had this arrhythmia to begin with. I know I was very short of breath and was having trouble breathing..every doctor IV seen says its a normal variant...
i don't know much about cardiology language. i was also diagnosed with early repolarization pattern. i also have low HDL. could that be causing it? please, shed light on this for me...in layman's terms. thank you!
Thanx!
So I should trust my Cardio? should I get a 2nd opinion?
For some insight, early repolarization, which is characterized by an elevation of ST segment has been associated with vulnerability to ventricular fibrillation (irregular heart rhythm), but little is known about the prognostic significance of this pattern in the general population, and early repolarization (contractions of ventricles) is a term used for ST segment elevation without underlying disease. Segment representation probably has nothing to do with actual early repolarization, and it is commonly seen in young men and it is important to assess early repolarization from ST segment elevation from other causes such as ischemia. A stress test would determine if there is an ischemic conditon.
Sorry, the time between Q and T is the systolic phase, I guess I was a little tired when I wrote the post :)
Hi,
EKG's differ between acute heart attacks and old heart attacks.
To answer your question, you need to know some basics about an EKG. One heartbeat is described as a PQRST complex, where P (first bump) is the atrial activation, the QRS (spike) is the ventricular activation and the T (last bump) is ventricular repolarization.
The time between Q and T is the diastolic phase, where your heart pumps blood. The time between S and T is the time when cardiac cells are depolarized, think of it as boxing, the ST time is where your arm is stretched out, where the QT time is the time for the entire punch.
To determine if your heart is taking damage from a heart attack, doctors evaluate the ST segment of the EKG. If it is elevated (increased from baseline) it is a sign that the heart is taking damage (usually heart attack, but certain other diseases can cause ST elevation as well). They measure the level of the graph 0,08 sec after the QRS complex and compare it to baseline. If it is more than 1-2 mm elevated (depending on the EKG lead) it may be a sign of an acute heart attack.
However, if you have early repolarization, the T wave may have started earlier than 0,08 sec after QRS, and the "ST elevation" is actually the start of the T wave. A T wave may be several mm high. Early repolarization is easy to recognize by a human, but not necessarily by a machine that only measure the elevation.
I would trust the doctor if I were you. And you would probably notice an acute heart attack.
A stress test is useful to discover ischemia (which is ST depression, not elevation). I don't think I should give you any advice here (I'm no doctor, just a little EKG nerd ;). That choice is up to you.
Thanx, but what does Early Repolarization mean?
i know lots who had ekg show heart attacks and they didnt have one. i would go see a cardio dr take that with you and let him/she look at it . have a stress test/echo whatever ther cardio wants to do.