EKGs

EKGs

An EKG, or Electrocardiogram, is a type of test that tracks the electrical activity of your heartbeat. Every beat produces an electrical impulse (or “wave”) that travels through the heart. An EKG shows these waves as a line tracing on paper.

We use EKGs at DMC to detect potential heart attacks, inflammation of the heart, angina, and other conditions. Generally, we recommend that if you are experiencing symptoms or have certain risk factors, an EKG should be performed first. Otherwise, you could have to undergo unnecessary tests or medical procedures.

What Should I Expect During an EKG?

An electrocardiogram is a painless and harmless procedure which takes about 10 minutes. Soft, sticky patches called electrodes are attached to the skin of the patient’s chest and other areas of the body. After the electrodes are attached, the patient lies on the table as the patches detect the hearts electrical activity from multiple areas at once.

An EKG is able to show:

• A heartbeat that is too fast, too slow or irregular (arrhythmia)
• Lack of blood flow to the heart muscle (coronary heart disease)
• A heart muscle that’s too thick or parts of the heart that is too big (cardiomyopathy)
• Inflammation of the sac surrounding the heart (pericarditis)
• Birth defects in the heart (congenital heart defects)
• Problems with the heart valves (heart valve disease)
• If the heart pumps forcefully enough (heart failure)