ECG test at home
Pk-Medics Home Patient Care Services provide ECG test at home in Islamabad & Rawalpindi. Patients with heart diseases, elders, and people with difficulty in movement, and for the safety of people during COVID-19 pandemic etc, can avail of this service.
ECG stands for Electrocardiogram. ECG test is used to check, heart’s rate, rhythm and electrical activity. Generally ECG tests are done at Hospitals and Diagnostic centers. For the people’s Safety and convenience, now we are performing ECG tests at your home.
On a single call a technician is available to perform ECG tests at the comfort of your own home.
What is the purpose of the ECG test?
An ECG test is ordered by a doctor in following certain conditions.
ECG is ordered when a patient is experiencing symptoms such as:
• Chest pain Discomfort in other areas of the upper body
• Shortness of breath or difficulty in breathing
• Dizziness
• Fainting
• Irregular heartbeats (Arrhythmias)
• Breaking out in a Cold Sweat
• In persons displaying other symptoms of a any heart disease
• To diagnose if a patient has suffered a heart attack or evidence of a previous heart attack
• To monitor treatment for CAD (coronary artery disease),To check if there are significant electrolyte abnormalities, such as high or low potassium & calcium.
• To assess the function of TPM(temporary pacemaker) & PPM Permanent pacemaker,To determine the size and position of the chambers of the heart
• to check a Person who may be at risk of cardiovascular disease because A family history of heart disease, Smoking habits
• Overweight
• Diabetes
• High blood pressure,High cholesterol level in blood
Note: Test will be performed on your doctor’s advice.
An ECG test doesn’t show if there are blockages in the heart nor can it predict a heart attack that can occur in the future. Additionally, it’s important to understand that there is a difference in the resting ECG and cardiac imaging test or exercise ECG or stress.
In case, there are no high-risk factors for heart diseases like high blood pressure or some other symptoms of heart disease; there is no need for this test as a part of the routine checks. Even then there are many people who have the ECG test conducted as part of the regular check-ups, which is not needed. Though the ECG doesn’t cause any harm, it might be a reason for unnecessary panic, due to an irregular heartbeat.
What is the preparation for ECG test?
Before the ECG test, tell your health care provider if you are taking any medications.
There are no any restrictions for food or fluids. However, drinking cold water immediately before an ECG test may produce changes in one of the waveforms recorded (T wave). Exercise (such as climbing stairs) immediately before an ECG test can significantly increase your heart rate.
How to perform ECG test at home?
People who require ECG tests are asked to lie flat on a bed, and about 10 electrodes are attached to the skin of chest leg & hands.The site of electrodes should be cleaned , if necessary, shaving or clipping hair.
Person needs to remain still and calm during the procedure.
while the ECG machine generates a picture, using a graph paper, of the “electrical impulses, moving through the heart. This is known as the “resting” EKG.
The entire procedure of the ECG test,electrodes will be connected to the body and completing the test takes about 10 mins
At the end of the test result appears on a graph paper.
Sometimes this test is performed while you are exercising or under minimal stress to monitor changes in the heart. This type of ECG is called ETT (Exercise tolerance testing).
A record of the ECG (Electrocardiogram) patterns is always maintained, so that can be compared to future tests.
What abnormal ECG test results mean?
Abnormal ECG results may indicate the following:
- Myocardial (cardiac muscle) defect
- Enlargement of the heart
- Congenital defects
- Heart valve disease
- Arrhythmias (abnormal rhythms)
- Tachycardia (heart rate too fast) or bradycardia (too slow)
- Ectopic heartbeat
- Coronary artery disease
- Inflammation of the heart (myocarditis)
- Changes in the amount of electrolytes (chemicals in the blood)
- Past heart attack
- Present or impending heart attack
Additional conditions under which the test may be performed include the following:
- Alcoholic cardiomyopathy
- Anorexia nervosa
- Aortic dissection
- Aortic insufficiency
- Aortic stenosis
- Atrial fibrillation/flutter
- Atrial myxoma
- Atrial septal defect
- Cardiac tamponade
- Coarctation of the aorta
- Complicated alcohol abstinence (delirium tremens)
- Coronary artery spasm
- Digitalis toxicity
- Dilated cardiomyopathy
- Drug-induced lupus erythematosus
- Familial periodic paralysis
- Guillain-Barre
- Heart failure
- Hyperkalemia
- Hypertensive heart disease
- Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
- Hypoparathyroidism
- Idiopathic cardiomyopathy
- Infective endocarditis
- Insomnia
- Ischemic cardiomyopathy
- Left-sided heart failure
- Lyme disease
- Mitral regurgitation; acute
- Mitral regurgitation; chronic
- Mitral stenosis
- Mitral valve prolapse
- Multifocal atrial tachycardia
- Narcolepsy
- Obstructive sleep apnea
- Paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia
- Patent ductus arteriosus
- Pericarditis
- Bacterial pericarditis
- Constrictive pericarditis
- Post-MI pericarditis
- Peripartum cardiomyopathy
- Primary amyloid
- Primary hyperaldosteronism
- Primary hyperparathyroidism
- Primary pulmonary hypertension
- Pulmonary embolus
- Pulmonary valve stenosis
- Restrictive cardiomyopathy
- Right-sided heart failure
- Sick sinus syndrome
- Stable angina
- Stroke
- Systemic lupus erythematosus
- Tetralogy of Fallot
- Thyrotoxic periodic paralysis
- Transient ischemic attack (TIA)
- Transposition of the great vessels
- Tricuspid regurgitation
- Type 2 diabetes
- Unstable angina
- Ventricular septal defect
- Ventricular tachycardia
- Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome