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213398 tn?1202670474

inverted t-waves

hi Doctor.  

This question is regarding my brother.  36 years old.  5'6 185 pounds. asthma since childhood. takes inhaler and some steroid inhaler as well prescribed by doc. he is a smoker for about 5 years now. pack a day.  he hardly complains of anything on his health except for asthma. he just went for a physical a week ago and doc said all is well except for reverse t-waves but doc did not make much of it and said it was probably attributed to his smoking. however she wants him to take another ekg this week.  my brother is extremely stubborn and i can't get him to go back to doc for the follow up. i'm really worried about him. what i read about reverse t-waves is that its indicative of an ischemia. Brother says all is normal.  my own ekgs are always abnormal and docs say thats just me and it is normal for me. my brother says well he is the same thing then. can this be true. can reverse t-waves actually mean nothing? should he be monitered closely? i don't want to alarm my brother and scare him but do i need to tell him. he needs to be evaluated and this may be dangerous? thank you in advance for your help
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213398 tn?1202670474
thank you so much for your response Doctor. i understand now that this may be a normal variant. just curious though how is it determined whether its a normal variant or indicative of an ischemia?
Helpful - 0
290384 tn?1193367512
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Inverted T waves are very nonspecific. They can be a normal variant to significant problems. He should follow up on this but there is no reason to presume the worst. His doctor who cares for him knows more about his overall health and may have an explanation for this finding.
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