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ECG Wave & Heart Disease

ECG or EKG is an acronym for electrocardiogram. An electrocardiogram is a medical test that monitors the heart's electrical activities, mapping out each heartbeat as a peaked line. By monitoring the waves on the ECG, including the look of the waves, a physician or heart specialist will be able to diagnose potential heart diseases.

  1. Significance

    • An ECG maps the heart's electrical activity in the form of sharply peaked waves. The separate waves and points on the ECG are signified with different letter names to distinguish each wave. The wave peaks P, R, and T are the top-peaking waves, while the Q and S waves peak downwards. The R Wave, also known as the ORS complex, measures the activity of electrical impulses passing through the right and left ventricles. The P wave shows the electrical movement in the right and left atria. The T wave is significant for repolarization of the ventricles.

    Process

    • In order to diagnose a specific heart disease, a medical professional must first obtain the ECG reading and look at the waves on the ECG report. To obtain an ECG, a patient will be hooked up to 12 leads, or wires, placed on the legs, arms, and chest with skin adhesive. An ECG report requires only that a patient lie completely still for a few seconds. An ECG may make a patient feel embarrassed or create a minimal amount of pain from removal of the sticky leads at the end of the ECG test.

    Results

    • The result will be used to determine if there has been damage to the heart such as blocks in heart valves and vessels in the heart muscle. An ECG will also show problems with the size and position of the heart chambers. Results also show the heart's pace and if the individual heartbeats are normal. Results are also used to show how the heart is reacting to heart medications and devices like pacemakers.

    Possible Diseases

    • The diseases diagnosable by observing an ECG include whether or not the patient has suffered a heart attack, atrial fibrillation, and the two forms of CAD or coronary artery disease. CAD presents from either a single heart block or bundle branch blocks. These diseases each show distinctly different abnormalities on their ECG eaves, making them noticeable and diagnosable.

    Considerations

    • After a heart disease has been diagnosed by an ECG report, and treatment has been conducted, another ECG will be necessary to determine the effects of the treatment and progress of the heart disease.

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