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Heart Disease Testing
|What Is An Electrocardiogram?
An electrocardiogram (ECG) is a safe and inexpensive way for a doctor to monitor a person's heart rate and rhythm. It can also help diagnose if a heart attack has occurred or whether there is a potential problem with blood supply to the heart. It is also used to study other problems such as cardiac arrhythmia and congestive heart failure as well as to diagnose cardiomyopathy (heart muscle disorders), aneurysms, blood clots in the heart and pericarditis (inflammation of the heart membrane). It can also help with the diagnosis of chest pain if the underlying cause is not clear. The test is sometimes called an EKG, electrocardiography and a 12-lead EKG/ECG (because the heart's electricity activity is monitored in 12 parts of the body). The printout after the test shows a graph of the electrical activity and rhythm of each heartbeat over the time of the test. The results of the test will help a doctor determine the best course of treatment if a problem is uncovered.
1. If a heart attack has occurred. The results of an ECG help determine if clot busters should be given.
Both men and women who display symptoms of a heart problem. Those signs include:
Patients do not have to prepare in any special way for the test although you should avoid drinking cold water or exercising directly before the test as this may alter the results. You will also be asked to remove all jewelry. The ECG may be carried out in a doctor's office or at a hospital. You may be asked to change into a hospital gown and lie on an examination table. Next electrodes (soft sticky patches) will be attached to various parts of the body - the chest, wrists, ankles and back. These patches will conduct the electrical impulses. The nurse or technician will apply a conducting gel to ensure a good connection. They will then hook the electrodes up to the machine and the test begins. It usually lasts less than one minute. No electricity is passed into the body so there is no need to worry about an electrical shock. The ECG simply records the heart's electrical activity. The entire procedure takes about 10 minutes. To locate the heart, see pictures of the human body.
In a healthy person the electrical impulses recorded will show a heartbeat with a regular sequential path. The results can be printed on graph paper - the more spikes in the graph, the more likely there is to be a problem. At a basic level the test records the heart rate. This can also be done by taking a person's pulse, but an ECG will give a more accurate measurement. A normal heart rate ranges between 60 and 100 beats a minute. The ECG can also monitor a person's heart rhythm, whether the heart is beating too fast (tachycardia) or too slow (bradycardia). It can also trace any electrical blockage in the heart that is causing this irregularity. Each type of arrhythmia has it owns distinctive appearance on a chart.
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A standard ECG only records a brief period of the heart's activity (about 6 seconds) so it may not reflect heart problems if the patient's symptoms are intermittent. The most common example is where a patient is suffering intermittent chest pains, a common symptom of CHD. This patient may end up with a normal ECG result if they are not experiencing pain on the day of the test. In such instances a special ECG called ambulatory electrocardiography (AECG) will be used. AECG’s are portable devices which can be worn over a period of 24 or 48 hours to monitor the heart's rhythm (such as a Holter Monitor), or for longer periods like weeks and months (such as event monitors or transtelephonic monitors). The Holter will monitor the heart continuously and is used when symptoms are likely to occur in a 24-48 hour timeframe. An event monitor makes intermittent recordings to investigate 'events' or symptoms which occur less frequently. It can be taken off to bathe or for other brief periods but it is best to wear it as much as possible. Alternatively an exercise stress test using an ECG can be performed. This shows how the heart performs during exercise. It is also referred to as the treadmill test.
How Much Does An ECG Cost?
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