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Are EKG's wrong?

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Posted 4/4/2014 5:07 AM (GMT 0)
I was born w/ vsd heart condition. Had three holes in my heart too. I wasn't suppose to make it past my 1st few nights. Was called a miracle baby bc I did survive. I've had 3 heart surgeries all before 2nd grade. I've always had SSI & was always able to be monitored. By the time I was 21-22 SSI claimed me not disabled anymore, even though I had more problems by that time & was told I'd need heart surgery in 2 years. I fought it and fought it, went trough a few appeals. Lost it.

My heart's been feeling worse & worse. I get labored breathing, faint feeling, have passed out (not sure if due to heart or not) Out of complete fear one night I went to the er. My EKG's have said in the past that I have bundle branch blocks, which is true. It's said I have tachycardia-also true. Has said something about sinus something or another-also true. But when I went to the er that night "inferior infarction" popped up. From my understanding of what I've read it's a small heart attack in the back of the heart, or bottom, it's been a while since I read it. The dr said I was fine I asked for my ekg as I always do, they tried saying no but I fought that too and got it. This is the only reason I know it said that too. Dr didn't say anything about it. Another occasion something else popped up, it was ignored. I've asked nurses/drs about this and they said the ekg "lies" & they don;t go by it bc they can read it better than the machine can.

Is this really true? Sounds bogus, human can read an ekg better than an ekg machine can? What? There have been other occasions I have felt the same problem I did when the infarction showed up, but this time it was associated with chest pain radiating up my right shoulder & down into my arm along with sweating, well clammy palms. I did go in bc I figured it be a waist of time. I have insurance now and I do need a surgery to correct stenosis. (which the ekg also picked up) The stenosis is so bad it's got my murmur sounding scary to the drs
Posted 4/5/2014 12:59 AM (GMT 0)
I can't speak to your circumstances specifically, but I can address them by talking about my situation.

I have seen cardiologists for many years. I have had various stress echoes, Holters, a few Thallium Stress Tests, etc. But every time I have a plain old EKG the Auto-interpretation function of the EKG Machine says that I have indications of an old inferior MI.

Every cardiologist I've ever seen said that my heart is fine, that the way the heart lays vs the lead placement causes the machine to improperly interpret the results. I've been instructed to carry a copy of my EKG because my cardiologist says that should I end up in the hospital and they see my EKG they're going to think something's wrong. I had this happen. My heart rhythm went bizarre for a short period while my wife and I were on vacation, no dizziness, just random like. I stopped at a nearby hospital in a small town, they hooked me up, muttered something, then phoned my doctor. They sent him a copy of the EKG. He looked at it, told them to tell me to take some more propranolol that I was already on, and send me on my way. You could tell they thought there was something else, but that was about 25 years ago, so it seems my doctor made the right call.

My wife worked for a cardiologist, he turned the Auto-intetpretation off. He sees the EKGs, analyzes, and compares the results to previous EKGs. What the machine thinks is a concern and what the doctor knows is or is not a concern can vary.

Keep your visits with your doctor, but you can trust them if they say you didn't have an MI even if the machine said you did. Hope this helps.
Posted 4/5/2014 6:33 AM (GMT 0)
Ok, thank yu for your in take on this. I appreciate it.
Posted 4/5/2014 3:50 PM (GMT 0)
Jennie,

JR shared some very valuable information with you. I am glad it has helped you understand a bit better.

Working in the ER, before I retired, we did many EKGS; all machine interpretations had  to be over-read by a physician.  Our ER physicians preferred to  turn off the interpretive function of the EKG machine  if possible or at least ignored it.

One of the golden rules I have carried with me through my career was "look at the patient" - it served me well and I suspect the staff in your ER was doing just that.

Sorry to read of your difficulties with SSI, that is one topic I am not able to comment on, however, if you have serious heart problems your Dr. and attorney should be able to help you with your claim.

Kindly,

Kitt 

 

Posted 4/5/2014 5:08 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you for your response Kitt, Yes I am planning on getting an autorney once I get all my medical records & diagnosis's & now that I have a better primary and a, from what I've heard, great PM dr maybe I can get their help with giving the correct notes to the SSI people, unlike my old primary dr who lied to SSI about whats written in my record & after SSI tried getting info from that primary dr they discontinued treating me.
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