In you have problems or concerns with your heart disease risk and decided to visit your physician, there’s a chance that he or she will wheel in the EKG machine and cover your chest with sticky electrodes to get an EKG tracing. Once the tracing is complete, your doctor will scan the results and give you the good or bad news about your heart disease risk. Unfortunately, it may not be that straightforward, particularly in light of the results of a recent study conducted in Great Britain.
This said British study was carried out on over eight thousand patients without documented heart disease. The patients presented to the clinic complaining of chest pain and other symptoms of angina. All of the patients who presented to the clinic were given a resting EKG tracing, while sixty percent were given an additional exercise EKG. The patients were then followed for several years. Surprisingly, in the follow-up period, almost half of the heart attacks that occurred in these patients affected those who had completely normal EKG tracings.
While this certainly calls into question the role EKG tracing plays in predicting the risk of future heart attack, it can still play an important role in diagnosing some cases of active chest pain. This is particularly true when an EKG is taken during an acute episode of pain. In these cases, if the pain is related to the heart, changes in the wave patterns can be seen and the suspicion of heart related pain, or angina, confirmed in most cases.
The problem with the EKG tracing is that you can have a normal one and still have heart disease. There have been numerous cases of a physician getting a normal EKG reading on a patient and having them return home to have a heart attack the same day. Even when you add an exercise or stress EKG to the picture, the results can still be falsely negative, meaning both tests were normal and you still have heart disease. Although there are more advanced nuclear imaging tests to diagnose heart disease, these are more expensive and may involve more risk to the patient so they aren’t ordered unless the suspicion of heart disease is high.
The bottom line? Make sure you’re seeing a doctor understands the importance of a good history and physical exam and doesn’t depend solely upon an EKG tracing to determine your risk of heart disease. Detecting heart disease may have more to do with a doctor’s clinical skills than it do the tracing that comes out of an EKG machine.
It’s important that your doctor question you about your risk factors including taking an in-depth family history. If you’re suffer from chest pain or other symptoms of heart disease and your doctor isn’t taking your symptoms seriously or is dismissing them based on a normal EKG, it may be time to find another doctor.
Now, this following guide applies now for the physicians themselves. Just in case they’re thinking what is the recommended EKG Machines available in the market today as being used by most doctors and medical hospitals or clinics? There is a website called EKGShop.Com site that suggests this particular brand called Burdick EKG Machine and with this particular device called as Burdick Atria 3100 3 Channel EKG.
Burdick Atria 3100 3 Channel EKG is simple to use, compact and reliable, the Burdick Atria 3100 ECG is the ideal choice for the physician's office. The Burdick Atria 3100 collects the same high-quality 12-lead ECG tracings as higher priced models at a price that even small practices can afford.
This said EKG Machine has up to $30 reimbursement per test. Also, this machine pays for itself after 80 tests, while it has an automatic or manual operation facilitates STAT operation and a high resolution thermal printer prints on standard size or A4 paper for easy reading and storage.
This EKG also have a variety of printout choices, including 3-, 4-, 6- or 12-lead ECG printouts and 3-, 4-, 6- or 12-lead rhythm printouts, to suit the requirements of your practice. Its extended life battery allows you to print up to 300 pages of continuous rhythm between recharges. While it also has the data storage for 50 ECGs, its AccuPrint restricts ECG printout when leads are not properly attached.
Other remarkable features includes stable baseline filter decreases the level of artifact by assuring that the ECG baseline is stable with no distortion of ST measurements, pacemaker algorithm accommodates patients with pacemakers, choice of QTC calculation formulas includes Hodges, Bazett, Framingham and Fridericia, beat-to-beat R-R intervals may be printed out on reports. Its intuitive features operation saves time. The units purchased without Burdick's powerful interpretation option can be upgraded at any time, while the communications upgrade options allow the Atria 3100 to communicate by fax, modem and Ethernet as well as wireless Bluetooth® and 802.11. The communications options can be added to the Atria 3100 after the initial purchase
Moreover, if you buy EKG on www.ekgshop.com, they offer a 3-year manufacturers warranty. You can also avail for a 1 year extended warranty which is available for $ 199 only. Extended warranty plans available including free loaners and our exclusive Rapid Response Service.
For more info regarding this brand, you may visit the link below:
http://www.ekgshop.com/Product/Atria-3100-3-Channel-EKG.html
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