Ekg, About It All

As I’m sure, we as a class know by now that an Electrocardiogram or Ekg / Ecg for short is a graphic representation of the electrical activity of the heart using a chosen number of different leads with each lead looking at the heart from a different angle(I.E a 12 lead EKG looks at the heart from 12 different angles). The interpretation of an electrocardiogram is based on knowing what each lead is looking at, which individual lead to look at in certain circumstances and what changes to look for in each individual lead.
The main purpose of electrocardiogram technology is to allow the members of the medical treatment team to examine what is going on in the heart in regards to myocardial ischemia, injury and necrosis. A brief overview of these processes is as follows: Myocardial ischemia occurs when myocardial oxygen demand rises above myocardial oxygen supply. If the diseased artery is not able to supply the increased demand, ischemia occurs and the patient may complain of chest pain, also known as angina pectoris. Ischemia is relieved by reducing oxygen demand. Once the patient stops exerting himself, the demand for oxygen will decrease. Once oxygen decreases to the point where it equals available oxygen supply (oxygen supply = oxygen demand), the ischemia will resolve and all symptoms (including EKG changes) will disappear. Myocardial injury occurs when myocardial oxygen supply is unable to meet cellular demand. An example of this would be the sudden loss of blood supply due to the complete occlusion of a coronary artery as a result of a thrombus formation at the site of a plaque. Without oxygen, the myocardial cells are unable to function. Oxygen supply may be restored through measures such as the administration of clot-dissolving drugs (thrombolytics) or by procedures such as angioplasty. If oxygen supply is promptly restored, myocardial injury may be reversible. If oxygen supply is not restored, however, myocardial injury will proceed to myocardial