Somebody please help!!!!

I have a question about an ECG printout. (Mostly for EmilyH or anyone else medical) My 9 year old had an ecg done today and they gave us an extra copy for my son to have. They cut it out in the shape of a heart so that all the info at the top was cut off except for the word unconfirmed in the corner. On the 4th row of the graph his QRS is much more negative than positive. There are also alot of other things that look really weird except I can’t explain them. Is it a problem to have this negative thing happening in the bottom row? The doctor now thinks that his asthma symptoms (mostly shortness of breath) is from a heart problem and not so much asthma. He has a heart murmur and a few other symptoms that set the doc off. I always just assumed evereything was from asthma. I have never heard of this before. I am totally freaking out. I won't have the results for a day or so until the pediatric cardiologist reads the ecg.

Thanks in advance,

Stevie

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Hi Stevie,

Sorry to hear your son is having problems, I hope the pediatric cardiologist can put your mind at rest.

Without seeing the ECG it's pretty much impossible for me to say if it's abnormal, I'm afraid. It's normal for the QRS to be negative in some of the leads. ECGs are quite individual things and it's not uncommon for people to have quirks on their tracings which are 'normal for them' but may look very different to other people's ECGs. They're also just one part of the cardiological assessment and it may be that other tests would be more revealing in your son's case.

I know it's easy for me to say but try not to freak out too much until you get the results from the cardiologist. There are a lot of possibilities and even if your son does have a heart defect a lot of them are minor and easily treatable.

Let us know what goes on. You and your son will be in my thoughts and prayers.

Sorry I can't be more help

Em H xx

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Thank you EmilyH!

I called my doc last night and had him call the cardiologist to speed things up. He read the inital report and feels that Steven might have a septal atriul hole or something like that. He is confused as to why it has never been picked up before. He is scheduled for an ultrasound, xrays and a stress test for Friday. He should know more then. But surgery is an option he told me to think about. He said it is unusual for a 9 year old to experience symptoms at his age and he just wants to rule out a few other things. He stressed to me that nothing looked that unusual on his ecg for a child with this condition. I am still worried but feel a little better. He said it is very possible that his asthma is causing the symptoms and not this problem. Stevie