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EKG is done even to he althy people as a prophylaxis. This examination is very simple and can be performed outside the clinic or hospital. But can this popular heart test capture all the characteristics and ailments of the heart muscle?
The contraction of every muscle, including the heart muscle, produces electricity. In the heart muscle, electrical impulses arise spontaneously - with a certain frequency decisive for the work of the heart. The place where the electricity is produced is called sinus node. The herd passes into specialized cells that send it to other parts of the heart. This property was used in the construction of apparatusEKG . It registers changes in the electric potential that occur on the body's surface under the influence of the electric current produced and propagated in the heart. The electrocardiograph picks up signals from the skin thanks to special electrodes attached to the body. These signals are then amplified and recorded by the camera on paper in the form of the so-called ECG curve. It is a reflection of the places and times of electrical phenomena occurring in the heart at the time of the test.
Advantages of EKG
It's fair to say that the most valuable thing about an EKG is the widespread availability and low cost of thisheart test . Today, they can be carried out not only in a clinic or hospital, but also in an ambulance and at the patient's home. Already during the examination, the doctor knows how fast the heart beats, whether there are arrhythmias, conduction disorders or heart ischemia. The eye of a specialist will also see if the electrical impulse that stimulates the heart to work is coming from the right place - the sinus node. Based on the shape of the line and the frequency of the so-called For wrinkles, the doctor determines whether the symptoms are related to tachycardia or flicker. This is of great importance for further treatment - using medications or performing a therapeutic procedure.
ImportantEKG over the phone
Using a telephone ECG does not require any special skills. How is it done? The patient's data, information about his disease and current test results, including ECG, are entered into the computer database of the facility providing such a service. The patient receives an EKG machine home. If he wants to check the work of the heart, he calls (from a landline or a mobile phone) the number where specialists are on duty 24 hours a day. Doctorasks the patient to bring the ECG accessory that emits a sound signal close to the phone - it is read by the doctor on the monitor screen as an ECG record. Then, arrhythmias or symptoms of cardiac ischemia can be detected. The patient can get advice quickly (e.g. increase the dose of the drug), and in an emergency - count on a quick call for an ambulance. In Poland, the EKG is run by several centers by phone (e.g. in Warsaw, Łódź, Kraków, Rzeszów, Sopot, Szczecin). The test allows you to register incidental disorders that are avoided during traditional diagnostics.
EKG allows you to recognize current conduction disorders in the heart, the so-called blocks. Thanks to this, sometimes (without additional diagnostics) it is possible to decide on the need for a pacemaker implantation. The line (EKG curve) recording the work of the heart provides information about the structure of this unusual muscle. It says which ventricle is enlarged and overloaded: if left, possibly due to arterial hypertension, while in the right - pulmonary hypertension. An EKG helps in the initial diagnosis of heart valve defects, inflammatory heart disease, congenital or toxin-induced defects, but the most important benefit of an EKG is to reveal myocardial ischemia, featuresof myocardial infarctionor residual scarring. The study shows abnormalities in the blood supply when they occur, as well as those earlier, which left a permanent mark on the electrical performance of the heart. It also indicates which wall of the heart is affected by ischemia or necrosis and how much area it covers.
What does the ECG not detect?
EKG may or may not show what was happening in the heart before the test. However, it only shows former major ischemia or a large heart attack. This only happens when the heart is severely and permanently damaged. If the infarction does not cover the entire thickness of the muscle wall, it often leaves no trace and is not visible on the ECG. But the absence of a post-infarction scar is not always due to a weakness of this diagnostic technique. It is connected with the fact that people with a heart attack quickly go to interventional cardiology centers, where they undergo specialist treatment immediately. As a result, a small part of the muscle is destroyed. The test will also not show any arrhythmias that happened the day before, and even with severe chest pain (coronary pain), the ECG does not have to show that the heart is already ischemic. We are dealing with a similar situation when the test will be carried out after the so-called vasospasm. If the blood vessels relax, the ECG will be normal, but this does not mean that the heart is he althy. In addition, the EKG performed in obese people, but also very thin people, does not tell the whole truth about workhearts. In fat people, this image can be changed, because a significantly weakened signal from the heart reaches the surface of the body, through the layer of fat. In skinny people, the electrode cannot be attached precisely. If part of it rests on the bone, the test result will also be false.
How to prepare for the EKG?
Although you do not need to prepare for an ordinary ECG, it is worth knowing what may affect its result. On the day of the examination, you should (at least one hour before) give up coffee and smoking (they accelerate the heart rate and raise blood pressure). It's best to eat a small, light meal so that an overfilled stomach doesn't increase abdominal pressure. It is also good to come a few minutes early to rest, calm your muscles and balance your breathing. Do not do very intense exercise the day before and do not drink alcohol, especially strong alcohol. The reason - considerable physical exertion and alcohol deprive the body of potassium and magnesium, and deficiencies of these elements may be manifested by low contraction force of the heart muscle and arrhythmia, i.e. faster or slower beating.
ProblemIt's okay!
People who get an EKG frequently fear that it may be harmful to the heart. Nothing similar! It is not the apparatus that sends the current to the heart, but the heart to the apparatus. The electrocardiograph only receives and records these electrical impulses. Therefore, without detriment to he alth, the test may be repeated many times.
What do you need to tell the doctor before the EKG?
Before the examination, tell the doctor (this information may also be found on the referral) about the medications you are taking and other ailments. Some of them significantly alter the ECG recording and the doctor cannot tell exactly whether it is due to heart disease or other organs of the body, such as neurological diseases, mental disorders (but not seasonal depression or so-called mood disorders), previous strokes of the brain, hypothyroidism (ECG records it as heart ischemia) and hyperthyroidism (shown by increased heart rate or attacks of atrial fibrillation), gallbladder stones (ECG shows abnormal rhythms). It is similar with drugs, e.g. antidepressants, antiallergic drugs, because they cause rhythm disturbances.
What does an EKG look like?
The room where ECG tests are performed should be well warmed, because if the patient is shivering, it may disrupt the heartbeat recording. For the examination, you must undress from the waist up and then lie down on your back. A nurse or doctor applies electrodes to the chest, wrists and ankles. The skin under the electrodes must be moistened with the gel toreduce the electrical resistance between the subject's body and the electrode. Each electrode "sees" a different area (wall) of the heart, which makes it possible to identify the site of ischemia or infarction.
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