Often, an ECG is done in the doctor's office, sometimes in the same exam room where you are seeing the doctor. The presence of an acute blockage associated with a myocardial infarction or heart attack can be determined as well. During this time, you will be asked to remain still, as movement can disrupt the pattern. During a heart attack, blood flow in the heart is affected, which can lead to tissue damage and cell death. Last medically reviewed on April 9, 2019, Many automatic processes in the body run on small electric currents, and electrolytes provide this charge. To learn more about chest pain, visit: https://www.cardiacdirect.com/understanding-chest-pain.html, https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/324922.php, https://www.livestrong.com/article/113041-causes-abnormal-ekg-results/, https://www.gohealthuc.com/Things-an-EKG-can-Tell-You-About-Your-Heart. It does not send electricity into the body and will not cause any pain. A doctor can recommend further tests to diagnose the underlying cause of a person’s symptoms and EKG results. He is Verywell's Senior Medical Advisor. We also describe treatment and recovery and provide tips for prevention. If the doctor suspects the abnormal EKG is a result of normal variances in the human heart, they may recommend no treatment at all. Jan 31, 2019. If the doctor suspects that a person has an electrolyte imbalance, they may suggest fluids or medications that contain electrolytes. An EKG will help doctors see how and where the heart is beating out of rhythm but will only be able to record the irregularity if it happens during the test. A person may physically feel changes in this rhythm, such as skipped heartbeats or feeling as though the heart is fluttering. When a person has a heart attack, the heart can lose its fresh supply of blood, which can cause tissue damage and even cell death. An EKG can catch all of these tiny details and record them for a doctor to analyze. Many people will get an EKG reading at some point in their lives, often due to experiencing common symptoms such as chronic chest pain, shortness of breath, or a rapid pulse. MedlinePlus. She is an assistant clinical professor of Medicine at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and an award-winning physician writer. Each electrode is a flat, coin-shaped plate with wires attached to the ECG machine, which looks like a computer. Damaged tissue can’t conduct electricity as well as healthy tissue, which can lead to an abnormal EKG reading. 1. An ECG is usually one of the first heart tests you will have. You Are Having a Troponin Test, What to Expect When Taking a Cardiac Stress Test. An EKG, also known as an ECG or Electrocardiogram, is a test that records the electrical activity of the heart through electrode patches attached to your arms, chest, and legs. Damaged tissue will not conduct electricity as well as healthy tissue, which could cause the abnormal EKG reading. If an EKG is performed during a period of Angina it can reveal abnormalities and allow doctors to intervene to correct the blockage before a heart attack occurs. A doctor will want to run additional tests to find the underlying cause. There are a variety of characteristic changes that occur with different heart concerns, and your doctor can look at your ECG wave patterns to see if they are suggestive of certain types of heart disease. Although it may vary slightly between each person, each heart keeps a steady rhythm. To many people, an EKG is just a series of lines. Sometimes, abnormalities that appear on the ECG turn out to have no medical significance after a thorough evaluation is done. Sometimes, an abnormal EKG reading is actually just a normal variation in a person’s heart rhythm. This may be brief and result in no lasting symptoms or may persist and lead to a heart attack. If an arrhythmia (heart rhythm irregularity) occurs only intermittently, an ECG might not pick it up, and, The ECG is often normal or nearly normal with many types of heart disease, such as. Electrolytes are minerals that help balance the amount of water in the body and are involved in many essential bodily processes. By analyzing the shape of the electrical waves, a radiologist may be able to determine if there is decreased blood flow to parts of the heart muscle. This is not always a sign of an unhealthy heart. 2018;20(1):33-45. doi:10.5853/jos.2017.02810, John TJ, John K, Van rensburg RJ, Kyriakakis C. Hypercalcaemia & a short QT interval. Most arrhythmias pose little to no risk to the person, as they may not cause symptoms or interfere with the heart’s function. EKG machines can reveal an arrhythmia, or an abnormal heart rhythm, as healthy hearts generally maintain a steady beat. With this in mind, an abnormal EKG reading could appear for many reasons, including: Irregular heart rate. Your test will be performed by a doctor, a nurse, or a technician. ECG is a safe test that does not cause health complications. Electrolytes are present throughout the…, Atrial fibrillation, or A-fib, can lead to fatal heart complications if it reaches a severe enough stage. Another reason to get an EKG is experiencing heart palpitations or arrhythmia. If a certain medication is causing the abnormal readings, they may recommend an alternative. Therefore, abnormalities seen on the ECG often need to be followed by a more definitive test in order to make a firm diagnosis. Sometimes, an abnormal EKG result may be a sign of a serious issue, such as a heart attack. Readings will be taken for about five minutes. Your ECG report may have a description of the wave pattern but is unlikely to describe your heart condition in detail because your doctor needs to take your medical history into account when determining whether or not you have (or could have) a heart condition. Among many things, an ECG can indicate: While the ECG can make a clear diagnosis of some cardiac conditions, such as a cardiac arrhythmia, it is more often used as a screening test. Treatment for an abnormal EKG depends on the underlying issue. Irregularities in Heart Rate. This can allow your doctors to compare and look for changes over time. Want a better price? Compare it to the above picture of a normal rS transition and you can see in Figure 2, the transition is almost absent. A doctor can identify some types of atrial…, While feeling like the heart has skipped a beat can be frightening, it is a common experience and not usually a cause for concern. In this article…, Arrhythmia means an irregular heartbeat. An abnormal EKG means that there is something unexpected in the EKG reading. In fact, you can have it right in the doctor's office if there is available time, space, and equipment. If you experience a rash in the area of the electrodes, call your doctor. If an unusual change in rhythm occurs during the test, the EKG machine can help detect it and give doctors a better chance of diagnosing the irregularity. Doctors may recommend an EKG here to check for any underlying issues. Anyone having a heart attack will need emergency medical treatment. To get a baseline tracing of the heart's function during a physical exam; this may be used as a comparison with future ECGs, to determine if there have been any changes ; There may be other reasons for your doctor to recommend an ECG. Some medications can speed up heart rate, while others may slow it down. QJM. The ECG tracing can also provide information about whether the heart muscle cells are conducting electricity appropriately. An EKG can reveal ischemia, which is reduced/restricted blood flow to your heart. Learning to read an ECG and recognize these patterns takes months of training and practice. An arrhythmia may or may not require treatment. This gives doctors a better opportunity to catch the irregularity. A poor ground contact to the exam table, or an item that may have a problem but is still working could be the cause. The human heart typically beats at around 60–100 beats per minute. EKG readings can also indicate if you’ve had a mild heart attack in the past. An abnormal EKG result can be a sign that one region or section of the heart is larger or thicker than the others. Some medications that help balance the heart rhythm may actually cause abnormal heart rhythms in some people. A thickened heart could mean that the heart is working too hard to pump blood. It does have some limitations, so often you will have one or more other tests too. Our guide will show you what puts you at risk, and how to take control of your heart health. It is an important tool for diagnosing conditions affecting the heart. If you are paying for this test out of pocket, you can anticipate it costing around $50. EKG results can be abnormal for many different reasons -- some more serious than others. If your doctor is worried that you have an especially rapid heart rhythm, you may be asked to abstain from caffeine for six to 10 hours before the test. This will result in an abnormal EKG reading and will alert your doctor know that they need to investigate further. Here, learn to recognize a heart attack and what to do next. For example, people with high blood pressure are more likely to have an abnormal EKG reading. A. All of this happens in the blink of an eye, which is why an EKG is so important. However, each line corresponds to an electrical signal sent from the heart. Remember that this test is very common and your doctor recommending it isn't a confirmation that something is wrong with you. There is no pain or discomfort associated with this test. The average human heart beats between 60 and 100 times per minute, and an EKG machine can be used to detect irregularities in heart rate. An ECG is also required prior to any type of heart surgery, including surgery for pacemaker placement. You may experience some pulling of hair underneath the nodes, but generally, the technicians are very careful with taking them off.
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