A man in his 40s with 3 days of stuttering chest pain
Written byWilly FrickA man in his early 40s with BMI 36, hypertension, and a 30 pack-year smoking history presented with three days of chest pain. It started while he was at rest after finishing a workout. He described it as a mild intensity, nagging pain on the right side of his chest with nausea and dyspnea. It woke him the next day and radiated into his back. He was only able to sleep while sitting in a chair. He went to urgent care and had an ECG (not available) which was interpreted as normal, and was sent home. His pain returned, and he went back to the urgent care but was sent to the ER. His ECG is shown:What do you...
Source: Dr. Smith's ECG Blog - March 13, 2024 Category: Cardiology Authors: Willy Frick Source Type: blogs
Three normal high sensitivity troponins over 4 hours with a " normal ECG "
Written byWilly FrickA 46 year old man with a history of type 2 diabetes mellitus presented to urgent care with complaint of " chest burning. " The documentation does not describe any additional details of the history. The following ECG was obtained.ECG 1What do you think?The ECG shows sinus bradycardia but is otherwise normal. There is TWI in lead III, but this can be seen in normal ECGs. No labs were obtained. The patient was given a prescription for albuterol and a referral to cardiology.Smith comment:No patient over 25 years of age with unexplained chest burning should be discharged without a troponin rule out, no matt...
Source: Dr. Smith's ECG Blog - January 5, 2024 Category: Cardiology Authors: Willy Frick Source Type: blogs
Acute OMI or " Benign " Early Repolarization?
Written by Willy FrickA man in his 50s with a history of hypertension, dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and prior inferior OMI status post DES to his proximal RCA 3 years prior presented to the emergency department at around 3 AM complaining of chest pain onset around 9 PM the evening prior. He described it as severe, sharp, and substernal with associated nausea, vomiting, chills, and diaphoresis. The following ECG was obtained. Note that the machine read is" normal sinus rhythm, normal ECG. " Cardiology over read the tracing and signed the interpretation without modification.ECG 1What do you think?The Queen of Hear...
Source: Dr. Smith's ECG Blog - December 27, 2023 Category: Cardiology Authors: Willy Frick Source Type: blogs
Occlusion myocardial infarction is a clinical diagnosis
Written by Willy Frick (@Willyhfrick). Willy is a cardiology fellow with a keen interest in the ECG in OMI.A woman in her late 70s presented with left arm pain. The arm pain started the day prior when she was at the dentist ' s office for a root canal. Her systolic blood pressure at the dentist was over 200 mm Hg. She was given nitroglycerin which improved her blood pressure, and she completed the procedure. Her arm pain abated. The pain returned that evening and woke her from sleep. She eventually fell back asleep, and woke up feeling normal the next day (the day of presentation). After dinner the day of presentatio...
Source: Dr. Smith's ECG Blog - December 11, 2023 Category: Cardiology Authors: Willy Frick Source Type: blogs
" A patient just arrived as a transfer for NSTEMI. "
Conclusion: Our THANKS to Dr. Frick for his detailed and highly insightful presentation. CREDIT to him for masterful correlation of clinical events to each ECG — that thoroughly supports his explanation of the successful treatment received by this patient with evolving LAD OMI.QUESTION: Isn ' t it so much EASIER with the lead-to-lead comparison facilitated by Figure-1 — to see the subtle-but-important evolution of ST-T wave changes that so closely correspond to clinical events? (Source: Dr. Smith's ECG Blog)
Source: Dr. Smith's ECG Blog - December 7, 2023 Category: Cardiology Authors: Willy Frick Source Type: blogs
What does the angiogram show? The Echo? The CT coronary angiogram? How do you explain this?
A 70-something female with no previous cardiac history presented with acute chest pain. She awoke from sleep last night around 4:45 AM (3 hours prior to arrival) with pain that originated in her mid back. She stated the pain was achy/crampy. Over the course of the next hour, this pain turned into a pressure in her chest. She said this was midsternal and felt like a tightness. This originally radiated into her left arm. Over some time and the pain moved into her other arm as well as her jaw. She also had some shortness of breath. She was brought in by ambulance and re...
Source: Dr. Smith's ECG Blog - November 15, 2023 Category: Cardiology Authors: Steve Smith Source Type: blogs
A 50-something with chest pain.
This was sent by anonymous The patient is a 55-year-old male who presented to the emergency department after approximately 3 to 4 days of intermittent central boring chest pain initially responsive to nitroglycerin, but is now more constant and not responsive to nitroglycerin. It is unknown when this pain recurred and became constant.More past history: hypertension, tobacco use, coronary artery disease with two vessel PCI to the right coronary artery and circumflex artery several years prior. He reports feeling nauseated with emesis. He reports that this chest pain feels different than prior chest...
Source: Dr. Smith's ECG Blog - September 3, 2023 Category: Cardiology Authors: Steve Smith Source Type: blogs
Vasodilators For High Blood Pressure: Types, Side Effects, Drug Interactions
Conclusion
In summary, vasodilators play a pivotal role in managing cardiovascular conditions, including hypertension, which is rapidly becoming a global health concern.
By expanding the body’s blood vessels, these unique medications can improve blood flow and decrease the pressure exerted by the heart, thereby providing relief to numerous patients worldwide.
Their applications are diverse, extending beyond hypertension to conditions like angina, heart failure, and even erectile dysfunction.
However, these medications should be taken carefully and always under the supervision of a doctor due to the potent...
Source: The EMT Spot - July 27, 2023 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Michael Rotman, MD, FRCPC, PhD Tags: Blood Pressure Source Type: blogs
A man in his 60s with acute chest pain and high voltage
Sent by Anonymous, written by Pendell MeyersA man in his 60s with history of CAD and 2 prior stents presented to the ED complaining of acute heavy substernal chest pain that began while eating breakfast about an hour ago, and had been persistent since then, despite EMS administering aspirin and nitroglycerin. There was associated diaphoresis, but no dyspnea, nausea, or vomiting. He reported having covid 2 weeks ago, but had seemingly fully recovered.Triage 1104:What do you think?The triage ECG was sent to me with no history (I did not have access to baseline ECGs), and I said that I thought this was just LVH causing the an...
Source: Dr. Smith's ECG Blog - April 14, 2023 Category: Cardiology Authors: Pendell Source Type: blogs
Off and on chest pain for 24 hours in a 50s year old man
Submitted by Ali Khan MD and James Mantas MD, MS, written by Pendell MeyersA man in his 50s with history of diabetes, hypertension, and tobacco use presented to the ED with 24 hours of worsening left sided chest pain radiating to the back, characterized as squeezing and pinching, associated with shortness of breath. His pain was initially mild, then became severely worse several hours prior to presentation, but then eased off again and was minimal on arrival. There was no associated diaphoresis, nausea, vomiting, arm pain, jaw pain, syncope, lightheadedness or other acute symptoms.Initial vitals: Temp 36.7 C, BP 161/79, RR...
Source: Dr. Smith's ECG Blog - April 9, 2023 Category: Cardiology Authors: Pendell Source Type: blogs
A man in his 60s with acute chest pain
Sent by anonymous, written by Pendell MeyersA man in his 60s presented with acute chest pain with diaphoresis. He had received aspirin and nitroglycerin by EMS, with some improvement. His vitals were within normal limits. Here is his triage ECG:2045:What do you think?The ECG is subtle, but diagnostic of infero-posterior OMI. The QRS is normal, yet in aVL the normal upright small QRS complex is followed by in appropriately large-volume T wave inversion, which is reciprocal to the T waves in lead III, which are probably hyperacute if compared to available baseline. Corroborating this is the subtle ST depression in V2-V3 whic...
Source: Dr. Smith's ECG Blog - February 6, 2023 Category: Cardiology Authors: Pendell Source Type: blogs
Chest pain, and Cardiology didn't take the hint from the ICD
Submitted and written by Megan Lieb, DO with edits by Bracey, Smith, Meyers, and GrauerA 50-ish year old man with ICD presented to the emergency department with substernal chest pain for 3 hours prior to arrival. The screening physician ordered an EKG and noted his ashen appearance and moderate distress. Triage EKG:What do you think?Triage physician interpretation: -sinus bradycardia-lateral ST depressionsWhile there are lateral ST depressions (V5, V6) the deepest ST depressions are in V4. Additionally, lead V3 has ST depressions, which are always abnormal (recall that lead V3 will haveST elevation under nor...
Source: Dr. Smith's ECG Blog - January 23, 2023 Category: Cardiology Authors: Bracey Source Type: blogs
A woman in her 50s with acute chest pain
Submitted and written by Anonymous, edits by Meyers and SmithA 50s-year-old patient with no known cardiac history presented at 0045 with three hours of unrelenting central chest pain. The pain was heavy, radiated to her jaw with an associated headache.Triage VS: 135/65 mmHg, 95 bpm, 94% on room air, 16/min, 98.6 FTriage ECG:ECG Interpretation:Sinus rhythm with normal QRS. There is slight STE in V1, V2, and aVR, with STD in V3-V6, I, aVL, and II. There are T waves in lead III which are suspicious for hyperacute T waves, with reciprocal negative large T wave inversions in aVL. I do not think this ECG is by itself diagnostico...
Source: Dr. Smith's ECG Blog - January 6, 2023 Category: Cardiology Authors: Pendell Source Type: blogs
A man in his 50s with acute chest pain and LVH
Sent by Drew Williams, written by Pendell MeyersA man in his 50s with history of hypertension was standing at the bus stop when he developed sudden onset severe pressure-like chest pain radiating to his neck and right arm, associated with dyspnea, diaphoresis, and presyncope. EMS arrived and administered aspirin and nitroglycerin. He reported several weeks of intermittent chest pain similar to the active pain, worsening over the past 2-3 days, some of them as long as an hour, but all spontaneously resolved and were of less intensity than the current symptoms.There are 2 very instructive posts which we link to at the bottom...
Source: Dr. Smith's ECG Blog - December 14, 2022 Category: Cardiology Authors: Pendell Source Type: blogs
Chest pain one day after a negative stress test
Discussion Points:The patient ’s ECG transmitted to ED providers by EMS showed T waves that are easily confused with the peaked T waves of hyperkalemia. Sometimes hyperacute T waves have this slimmer, taller appearance, and it can be difficult to distinguish them in these cases. The new STE in anterior leads helps to understan d these as hyperacute. Also, other signs of hyperkalemia were absent, as there was no P wave flattening or QRS broadening, bradycardia, new AV blocks or NSIVCD, bizarre QRS morphology, or Brugada patterning. Additionally the clinical context was clearly ACS in this case, and if there were remaining...
Source: Dr. Smith's ECG Blog - October 3, 2022 Category: Cardiology Authors: Pendell Source Type: blogs
