Electrocardiography(ECG)
Placement of the precordial electrodes.
Diagnostic Centres are having Electrocardiography (ECG or EKG) machine. It records the electrical activity of the heart over a period of time using electrodes placed on the skin. These electrodes detect the tiny electrical changes on the skin that arise from the heart muscle's electrophysiologic pattern of depolarizing and repolarizing during each heartbeat.
In a conventional 12-lead ECG, ten electrodes are placed on the patient's limbs and on the surface of the chest. The overall magnitude of the heart's electrical potential is then measured from twelve different angles ("leads") and is recorded over a period of time (usually ten seconds). In this way, the overall magnitude and direction of the heart's electrical depolarization is captured at each moment throughout the cardiac cycle. The graph of voltage versus time produced by this noninvasive medical procedure is an electrocardiogram.
Diagnosis:
Rhythm disturbances / Arrhythmias:- Atrial fibrillation & atrial flutter without rapid ventricular response
- Premature atrial contraction (PACs) & Premature ventricular contraction (PVCs)
- Sinus arrhythmia
- Sinus bradycardia & sinus tachycardia
- Sinus pause & sinoatrial arrest
- Sick sinus syndrome: bradycardia-tachycardia syndrome
- Supraventricular tachycardia
- Atrial fibrillation (afib) with rapid ventricular response
- Atrial flutter with rapid ventricular response
- AV nodal reentrant tachycardia
- Atrioventricular reentrant tachycardia
- Junctional ectopic tachycardia
- Atrial tachycardia
- Ectopic atrial tachycardia (unicentric)
- Multifocal atrial tachycardia
- Paroxysmal atrial tachycardia
- Sinoatrial nodal reentrant tachycardia
- Torsades de pointes (polymorphic ventricular tachycardia)
- Wide complex tachycardia
- Ventricular flutter
- Ventricular fibrillation
- Ventricular tachycardia (monomorphic ventricular tachycardia)
- Pre-excitation syndrome
- Lown–Ganong–Levine syndrome
- Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome
- J wave / Osborn wave
- Heart block and conduction problems
- Aberration
- Sinoatrial block: first, second, and third-degree
- AV node
- First-degree AV block
- Second-degree AV block (Mobitz I & II; Mobitz I aka Wenckebach)
- Third-degree AV block / complete AV block
- Right bundle
- Incomplete right bundle branch block
- Complete right bundle branch block (RBBB)
- Left bundle
- Complete left bundle branch block (LBBB)
- Incomplete left bundle branch block
- Left anterior fascicular block (LAFB)
- Left posterior fascicular block (LPFB)
- Bifascicular block (LAFB plus LPFB)
- Trifascicular block (LAFP plus FPFB plus RBBB)
- QT syndromes
- Brugada syndrome
- Short QT syndrome
- Long QT syndromes, genetic and drug-induced
- Right and left atrial abnormality
- Electrolytes disturbances & intoxication
- Digitalis intoxication
- Calcium: hypocalcemia and hypercalcemia
- Potassium: hypokalemia and hyperkalemia
- Ischemia and infarction
- Wellens' syndrome
- ST elevation and ST depression
- High Frequency QRS changes
- Myocardial infarction (heart attack)
- Non-Q wave myocardial infarction
- NSTEMI
- STEMI
- Structural
- Acute pericarditis
- Right and left ventricular hypertrophy
- Right ventricular strain / S1Q3T3