Delta Waves

Not much help..

by USMC-Pacer - 2024-02-21 20:33:24

I tried it on my Apple Watch and all I get is sinus rhythm with the ecg strip. It doesn't tell me anything about QRS. I'm guessing they are calculated?

We could all improve our ECG understanding

by Gemita - 2024-02-22 06:54:16

Wow Hayden, is that really you asking about Delta Waves?  You seem to be moving away from us.  Not sure that I know much about them either, or more than the basics about what my ECG’s “might” mean, although you are right about those QRS’s - they can appear widened in the presence of RV pacing. 

The ECG measures the electrical activity in your heart and your heart rate. When a delta wave is present on the ECG, it can mean that there is an extra pathway conducting electricity from the atria to the ventricle, disrupting normal ventricular behaviour, but I would get a cardiologist to confirm what your ECG means before assuming you have a particular arrhythmia.  

A Wide QRS tachycardia may be due to ventricular tachycardia, supraventricular tachycardia with aberrant conduction - bundle branch block pattern -  (as seen in my ECGs), or atrioventricular reentrant tachycardia with an accessory pathway.

Have a read of our Pacemaker Club link on wide QRS, which might throw some more light on this complex area that I can only pretend to understand:-

https://www.pacemakerclub.com/message/43251/broadening-of-qrs-complexes

Please keep learning and come back often with challenging questions Hayden.  That is how we all learn.  Hope otherwise you are doing better?

At home ecg's can't interpret delta waves

by PacedNRunning - 2024-02-24 01:21:07

You would need a 12 lead EKG not a single lead to capture anything to this specificity.  When you are paced, the ecg's are interpreted differently, especially with single lead devices.  

Wide QRS is common to see when you are paced in the ventrilce as you stated. I also notice when I'm paced in my A lead, my P waves are flat.  

Single lead at home devices are basic and only looking for afib or an irregular rhythm

The dangers of self diagnosis

by Gemita - 2024-02-24 05:04:58

I find my 6 lead Kardia Mobile is able to give a better picture of what is going on and will report on wide QRS’s, ectopics as well as AF.  

In my experience, even a 12 lead surface ECG doesn’t always get it right and needs to be confirmed by an experienced doctor, especially in a paced patient.  

I recall my surface 12 lead ECG once reporting “frequent PVCs” which when read by an experienced doctor turned out to be “frequent PACs with aberrant conduction" (right bundle branch block).  12 lead, surface ECG machines can get it wrong too in my experience.

My husband’s 12 lead surface ECG’s sometimes state "myocardial infarction (heart attack) date unknown", which causes a great deal of stress.  Although he has heart disease, he has not according to his doctor had a heart attack. There are occasions when the ECG is correct and the patient did have a previously unrecognized “silent” heart attack but a surface 12 lead ECG may give a “false positive” interpretation on occasions.

Hayden, I suppose this all confirms the dangers of self diagnosis, especially with ECG's.  We need to get an experienced eye to confirm what is really going on.   I know I have a long way to go before I can ever hope to confidently understand mine