12/16/2023 0 Comments Baseline artifact meaningShe hugged me and thanked me for possibly saving her life. A few weeks passed, and she came into the office. After being taken to the hospital by an ambulance, she was later transferred to another hospital for a heart catheterization. I replied, “Possibly.” She immediately said, “No!” Then I began to explain to her how important it was to have more tests to make sure she would be alright. She asked me if she was going to have to go to the hospital. I went into the patient’s room to comfort her. After the physician read the electrocardiogram, he indicated the results did not look good and that the patient would have to be transported to the hospital. I ran an electrocardiogram, as ordered by the physician. I immediately helped her back to an examining room. One of my most rewarding experiences was when a young woman came into the office with severe chest pain. I also run electrocardiograms, apply and remove Holter monitors, perform pulmonary function tests, and assist with cardiac stress testing. My name is Janet Canterbury, and I work in the medical laboratory of an internal medicine office. Because most medical offices use a three-channel ECG, the information in this chapter focuses on the three-channel electrocardiograph (Figure 27-1). The medical assistant must acquire knowledge, and skill must be acquired in the following aspects of electrocardiography: preparation of the patient, operation of the electrocardiograph, identification and elimination of artifacts, and care and maintenance of the electrocardiograph.Įlectrocardiographs are available in single-channel and three-channel recording formats. The medical assistant is frequently responsible for recording ECGs in the medical office. Because of this, an ECG must be used in combination with the patient’s symptoms, health history, physical examination, and other diagnostic and laboratory tests to obtain a complete assessment of cardiac functioning. A patient who experiences angina pectoris does not typically have symptoms while in a resting state, and an ECG run on such a patient may appear normal. If a patient has a dysrhythmia that occurs intermittently, the abnormal heartbeat may not occur during this brief time period. An ECG is taken with the patient in a resting state and records only about 10 seconds of the heart’s electrical activity. As part of a complete physical examinationĪ 12-lead resting ECG cannot detect all cardiovascular disorders nor can it always detect impending heart disease such as a myocardial infarction.Performed before surgery to assess cardiac risk during surgery.To assess the progress of rheumatic fever.To determine the presence of electrolyte disturbances.To assess the effect on the heart of digitalis and other cardiac drugs.To detect inflammation of the heart muscle (myocarditis) or the lining of the heart (pericarditis).To determine the presence of hypertrophy (enlargement) of the heart.To help diagnose damage to the heart caused by a myocardial infarction.To detect the presence of impaired blood flow to the heart muscle (cardiac ischemia).To detect an abnormality in the heart’s rate or rhythm ( dysrhythmia).To evaluate the following symptoms: chest pain, shortness of breath, dizziness, or heart palpitations.
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