A 29 year old male with pleuritic chest pain for 6 hours

This case was sent to me by Taylor Sanders of the LSU- Baton Rouge Emergency Medicine residency.A 29 year old complained of 6 hours of pleuritic chest pain:QRS: There is rSR' in V1, consistent with RV conduction delay, but the QRS does not appear prolonged and there are no S-waves in lateral leads.  However, this absence of lateral S-wave may be due to terminal QRS distortion from the ST Elevation.  R-waves in Lateral leads: the R-waves in I and aVL are minimal, but are well formed in V5 and V6; this is somewhat unusual, and one must entertain the possibility of reversed limb lead placement.  However, when the axis is 90 degrees, because V5 and V6 are inferior to limb leads I and aVL, they may show R-waves when I and aVL do not.   PR segments: there appears to be some PR depression in leads II and V3.  In lead II, it is partly due to a downsloping baseline.  This PR depression is suggestive of myo-pericarditis, but may also be found in MI.  PR depression of greater than 0.8 mm is generally considered specific for pericarditis, but the data upon which this is established comes from the pre-angiogram era, and cannot be fully trusted.ST segments: There is marked ST elevation in inferior and lateral leads.  Inferolateral STEMI and pericarditis are very difficult to distinguish, and the best means to do so is that with inferolateral STEMI there is virtually always ST depression in aVL, even when there is ST elevation in V5 and V6. ...
Source: Dr. Smith's ECG Blog - Category: Cardiology Authors: Source Type: blogs