AliG
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 9734
posted
It's hard to read Dr's writing on the referral Rx, but it looks like:
mini Q's in II, III, aVF
On the top of report:
P/PR: 94/124 ms QRS: 68 ms QT/QTc: 360/443 ms P/QRS/T Axis: 80/92/56 deg Heart Rate: 91 BPM
sinus rhythym (rapid) right atrial overload P>0.25 mV in II aVF P=94 ms vertical axis Borderline ECG
PCP said it looks like an old cardiac event, referring me to cardiologist.
From the "II, III, aVF", I was able to determine that this has to do with the inferior section of my heart.
-------------------- Note: I'm NOT a medical professional. The information I share is from my own personal research and experience. Please do not construe anything I share as medical advice, which should only be obtained from a licensed medical practitioner. Posts: 4881 | From Middlesex County, NJ | Registered: Jul 2006
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echostef
Unregistered
posted
Ali,
Yes, I read EKGs.
I have had a B.S in Cardiovascular Technology for 11 years and can interpret an EKG in 5 seconds with my eyes half closed. Seriously..!
First of all, DON'T WORRY! 9 out of 10 people have borderline/ abnormal EKGs and there is absolutely nothing wrong with them.
Q waves may or may not be indicative of a past myocardial infarction (heart attack). But, please let me stress again, most patients can certainly have an abnormal EKG that means NOTHING AT ALL.
PCPs have an extremely basic knowledge of EKGs. Most of them rely on computer interpretations to tell them what the EKG says.
You are correct in that leads II, III, and aVF represent the inferior part of your heart.
However, although people who have had heart attacks will have Q waves on their EKGs for the rest of their lives, there are also many people who have Q waves present on their EKGs that mean nothing at all.
Your cardiologist will probably evaluate all your risk factors and decide whether or not you need further testing, either an echocardiogram or a nuclear stress test. Both are fairly specific for cardiac damage.
There is also the cardiac CT, which is (slowly)being recoginized as the 100% gold standard in ruling out cardiac damage and disease.
Any of them will rule out whether or not you have really had an old event happen, but I highly doubt there has been one.
In my years of performing stress echoes, echoes, nuclear stress tests, and many, many other diagnostic tests on cardiac patients, it has been very rare that I come across a patient with an EKG such as your own that is really any need for concern.
Your PCP is doing the right thing by sending you to a cardiologist, but I can say with 99% certainty that you probably have a borderlne EKG that means nothing at all!
Please keep me posted on how your visit to the cardiologist turned out!!!
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AliG
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 9734
posted
Thank you so much for your reply.
The one my PCP was comparing it to was from 2 years ago.
That one read:
P/PR: 92/124 ms QRS: 70 ms QT/QTc: 378/444 ms P/QRS/T Axis: 49/87/46 deg Heart Rate: 83 BPM
sinus rhythm vertical axis Normal variant of ECG
He did actually mark off the mini Q's on the II, III and aVF.
I have had periodic chest pain through the past two years (assumed Lyme thing)and a while ago I was getting a really strange (unnerving) squeezing sensation which seemed to resolve when switched from Zith to Levaquin.
I also had a really strange fluttering episode when I had my PICC placed & rolled over onto that arm in bed.
I had a nurse unload a full line of air into my left shoulder through a midline catheter. I heard the bubbling in my shoulder & I scared me beyond belief.
I also had a "vaso-vago(?)" when the nurse tried to place another midline & the pain was excrutiating. I barely made it to the couch before my legs gave out.
My last Cholesterol level the LDL was around 100 over high.
All these things are going through my mind right now and it's pretty frightening.
I can't help but think that it could be possible but may have been something I ignored because I didn't die. It really can't be a good thing if I did that I guess.
I know my BP has been pretty consistently low throughout treatment though it did come up to low normal a few times during Tx. My pulse lately has been around 103 when I've taken it, but I don't recall what it had been early on.
I sure hope that it's really nothing to worry about, but I can't help being a bit concerned. I'm waiting for the orders to have another PICC placed and this physical was for surgical clearance to have a cataract removed.
It just seems like there always has to be something. At times I feel like I just can't get a break.
Thanks again for your reassurance. Ali
[ 09. July 2008, 10:03 AM: Message edited by: AliG ]
-------------------- Note: I'm NOT a medical professional. The information I share is from my own personal research and experience. Please do not construe anything I share as medical advice, which should only be obtained from a licensed medical practitioner. Posts: 4881 | From Middlesex County, NJ | Registered: Jul 2006
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echostef
Unregistered
posted
Ali,
My heart went absolutely crazy thru the tx phase of LD. I had PVCs, shortness of breath, sinus tachycardia, chest pain, and such a horrible tightness that I felt like I could not breathe.
I actually echoed and EKG'ed myself many times, sure that I had a cardiac disorder.
I even went to the ER, knowing that they would find nothing. I was sure I was going to die.
A vaso- vagal reaction is not unusual when you are stressed. It is an increase in HR and a drop in BP. It also accompanies Lyme. One of the many, many symptoms that regular docs will try to explain away.
I endured 4 months of POTS before it finally subsided.
I could not stand up out of bed without my heart racing and my BP dropping so low that I fainted.
My BP ran 80/40 for 6 months of my tx. And that was when I was in a supine position, in bed.
Lyme causes alot of heart symptoms. Luckily, most of them fade away.
EKGs are extremely useful for diagosing arrhthymias and acute MIs, but a borderline EKG is usually a false alarm.
Again, though, please post on the opinion of your cardiologist!
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