Pulmonary Embolism Support Group
By far the most common form of pulmonary embolism is a thromboembolism, which occurs when a blood clot, generally a venous thrombus, becomes dislodged from its site of formation and embolizes to the arterial blood supply of one of the lungs. Symptoms may include difficulty breathing, pain during breathing, and more rarely circulatory instability and death.
An electrocardiogram (EKG) is done to evaluate signs and symptoms that could indicate heart problems. Some of the signs and symptoms that might be evaluated with an EKG include:
Chest pain
Heart pounding, racing, or fluttering, or the sense that your heart is beating unevenly
Difficulty breathing
Feeling tired and weak (fatigue)
Unusual heart sounds when the doctor listens to your heartbeat
http://cardiosmart.org/HeartDisease/CTT.aspx?id=174
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But then read about the value of an ECG/EKG:
A routine resting electrocardiogram (ECG/EKG) is an "inexact science", a relatively low-sensitivity 2D recording of a dynamic 3D process, offering limited heart-diagnostics, and sometimes yields inconclusive or erroneous results
" It is important to remember that EKGs are not 100% accurate. Normal recordings can be obtained in patients with significant heart disease, or some "abnormalities" may exist in the presence of a normal heart."
From Heartsite.com
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Make no mistake---- I'd certainly get EKGs anytime my doctor requests them. Or if I think I might need one. But I'd never, ever consider that they're anything more than the tip of the iceberg.
Chest pain
Heart pounding, racing, or fluttering, or the sense that your heart is beating unevenly
Difficulty breathing
Feeling tired and weak (fatigue)
Unusual heart sounds when the doctor listens to your heartbeat
http://cardiosmart.org/HeartDisease/CTT.aspx?id=174
***********************************************
But then read about the value of an ECG/EKG:
A routine resting electrocardiogram (ECG/EKG) is an "inexact science", a relatively low-sensitivity 2D recording of a dynamic 3D process, offering limited heart-diagnostics, and sometimes yields inconclusive or erroneous results
" It is important to remember that EKGs are not 100% accurate. Normal recordings can be obtained in patients with significant heart disease, or some "abnormalities" may exist in the presence of a normal heart."
From Heartsite.com
**************************
Make no mistake---- I'd certainly get EKGs anytime my doctor requests them. Or if I think I might need one. But I'd never, ever consider that they're anything more than the tip of the iceberg.
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"coronary microvascular dysfunction that isnt detected by standard diagnostic procedures and thus goes unrecognized and untreated."
An EEG might give part of the picture. But what if that person has a microvascular disease (MVD)?
A large study(WISE) has found some interesting results but ER/doctors aren't up to speed yet on that. Or they have to follow 'rules' that aren't up to speed yet.
"To some cardiologists, the discovery of widespread microvessel disease came as an epiphany. It helped explain why so many women with IHD were misdiagnosed and undertreated: The standard protocol identified only coronary artery obstructions. Microvessel disease could also help explain why so few women have the classic crushing chest pain that signals coronary artery disease. Instead, they feel diffuse discomfort, exhaustion, or shortness of breath under stress or even during daily routines symptoms that are nonspecific and less dramatic than those that herald a blockage caused by a blood clot. As vessels lose their resilience, blood flow is reduced, and the heart muscle, deprived of oxygen, gradually dies, resulting in congestive heart failure."
"Pay attention to symptoms. Certain seemingly unrelated symptoms fatigue, depression, shortness of breath could be preludes to a serious cardiac event. Dont be shy about seeking medical help for these symptoms."
http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsweek/New-view-of-heart-disease-in-women.htm
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Early warning symptoms of a possible impending heart attack:
unusual fatigue (70.7%)
sleep disturbance (47.8%)
shortness of breath (42.1%)
chest discomfort (29.7%)