Q about Medical

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22l
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Q about Medical

Post by 22l »

Anybody knows what happen if ECG shows PVC [Preventricular Contractions] for renewal of Cat1 Med?
Thanks a lot
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Dog
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Post by Dog »

That could be pretty serious for your medical.
Has your doctor explained to you what PVC is? In laymans terms the normal pacemaker in your heart is being patialy overridden by other electrical activity also from the heart.
I'm no doctor. Here's what I know: PVC can, in some cases, develop into Ventricular Tachycardia (V Tach); a state where the heart beats ineffectivly, sort of like quivering. PVC's are considered dangerous and life threatening if there are more than five occurring in a one minute period or if they are multifocal (multifocal meaning that they occur in different parts of the normal rythm).
Was your ECG diagnosed automatically or was it read by a specialist? I would say that you are at least in line for another ECG and possibly a stress test before your medical is re-issued. Worst case scenario: you might be looking at a pacemaker. Best case: the ECG was wrong.

Hope that helps.
Good luck.
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22l
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Post by 22l »

Info and good wishes appreciated,thanks again
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KnownIce
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Post by KnownIce »

Usually I avoid replying to things like this --- but the heart's electrical system is one of my favourite topics. Of course the big disclaimer here: I am not a doctor (yet... i'm working on it :wink:) and I don't know your particular situation... so read this if you want but make sure to follow-up with your doctor.

--

In short, the ECG probably wasn't wrong. More likely you were just unlucky enough to have a PVC at the time the ECG was recording. Do you know if there was there just one or a number of them? If there was more than one your doctor will look to see if they run back-to-back, if they all look the same, and if they are associated with any other abnormality on the ECG.

Most people who get a Holter device (a device which records an ECG for 48 hours) will have PVC's - the issue is how many and how "bad" they look. I remember reading that having up to 1/1000 heartbeats being PVC's can be considered normal. Drinking too much coffee, smoking, or using decongestants too much can all triger PVC's. Like Dog said, multifocal PVC's are worse (but a minor correction here - mulifocal means "originating from more than one site" - meaning more than one area of your heart muscle is deciding to cause the electrical spike. This is worse as it suggests a more diffuse problem, and is potentially more prone to creating a 'short-circuit' of sorts between the foci which can lead to dangerous arrhythmias)

If they decide to investigate it you will likely be asked to wear a Holter device for 24/48 hours and have it read by a cardiologist.

The vast majority of people who have one PVC on a single ECG rhythm strip will not ultimately have a medically dangerous arrhythmia --- but it certainly warrants looking into it further.
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22l
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Post by 22l »

Thanks for replies There was one PVC.
Some yrs ago the same thing hapened but because all other risk factors were very low and a second ECG was clean no further investigation was done. Since then, all others ECG have been normal except this last one
Funny or ''tragicaly'' while the last ECG was been done Im thinking ''it been many yrs i havent had one of those PVC things....and then felt like my heart skipped :?: so i dont know if it is possible that anxiety and thinking ''oh god im gonna get one of those'' did not help me but if this is the case i just dont know how to go for a second ECG and ''not to think of a pink elephant''
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