Ecg

[Tilly1957]

Evening, I was looking at the Kardia reading from last week and noticed a fun blip on it. Does it mean anything or did I just cough, sniff or wiggle while doing it? 🤣🤣🤣 Am just curious, am not looking for an interpretation. Thank you

[BobD Volunteer]

Upside down T waves are usually ectopic beats which as we should all know by now are normal.

[Tilly1957 in reply to BobD]

Thank you. Can you also clarify what a P wave is, please? Thank you, BobD 😊

[Bingofox007 in reply to Tilly1957]

The P wave represents atria depolarisation. At the point of P wave the valves between the atria and ventricals open and about 70% of the blood goes from one chamber to another. In theory that is. In AF the P wave has a mind of its own as we all know! Take care❤️

[Tilly1957 in reply to Bingofox007]

Thank you 😊

[Ppiman]

That's a fast rate, by the way, and whilst a few ectopic beats aren't of concern, if you get runs of these, especially while your heart is racing, they can feel pretty weird and make you feel anything but normal with mild breathlessness and chest discomfort - much like AF itself.

The part of the ECG trace that matters in AF is the little blip (P-wave) before big one (R wave). This represents the electrical signal sent from the left atrium to the left ventricle. In AF the atrium isn't sending this, instead it's quivering like crazy and effectively sends nothing of use down below so no P-wave registers - just the large R-wave. This is how the Kardia knows you likely have AF.

Steve

[Tilly1957 in reply to Ppiman]

Thank you, makes sense. That heart rate wasn’t what it peaked at, and strangely enough it didn’t dip particularly low this time. Was only in af for about 6 hours this time. I have had 4 episodes since the end of feb, so I think I will ring GP Monday for a chat with someone. 😊

[Ppiman in reply to Tilly1957]

I suspect you'll be met with a less than interested response. I have an excellent GP but he doesn't really get excited by anything AF-wise! The consultant I see is a bit different as he doesn't want me to develop much AF as I also have a bit of left-branch bundle block and he tells me the to aren't a good combination.

Steve

[Tilly1957 in reply to Ppiman]

My gp was muttering about referring me if couldn’t get some meds issues sorted, but did at the time, but something is skewhiff now so let’s see what happens x

[Palpman]

Looks much like my ecg when in tachycardia. During the "rumble" of the very fast heartbeat there are ectopics that feel like a "thud" and shows up like your anomalous beat.

[Tilly1957 in reply to Palpman]

Thank you. I find it fascinating what the Kardia shows, and want the different wiggles explained to me, but the medical people look and go ‘that’s ok’ (on hospital ecgs) and don’t elaborate 🤣. I wondered why there would be the erratic thumps - both when in af and not. Are ectopics anything to be concerned about? 😊

[baba in reply to Tilly1957]

images.app.goo.gl/Ct5D5Y9bG...

[Tilly1957 in reply to baba]

Thank you 😊

[Palpman]

Ectopic beats are very common and most people experience them in various intensities.They can arise from many parts if the heart other than the normal AV Node.

Sometimes when the heart skips a beat then the next one will be more intense and can be felt as a thud or a fish thrashing out the water if consecutive beats are more intense.

[Tilly1957 in reply to Palpman]

Thank you x

[Tilly1957]

Thank you 😊 x