The Practice of Electrocardiography: A Problem-Solving Guide to Confident Interpretation

ISBN-13: 9780896032927 / Angielski / Twarda / 1994 / 319 str.

Thomas M. Blake

Opis

Electrocardiography is a mature discipline, so familiar to both doctors and patients that it's hardly noticed, one of those tests that have always been there, like the white count and hemoglobin, not something one has to think about much, or question. To some extent this view is valid, but it overlooks some important points. Like the white count and hemoglobin, electrocardiograms are produced by technicians using mechanical devices that turn out numbers, but there is a difference. The white count and hemoglobin are reported as single values to be interpreted by the doctor who knows the patient and ordered the test, but the graph produced by an EKG machine represents millions of numbers displayed as XY plots, a message written in a language different from one's own. It requires transla tion, and this means that the translator must not only know the lan guage, but also be able to assess the effects on it of the many factors that may have modified its meaning between origin and delivery. There is potential for harm to the patient, as well as for help, in every facet of the process, and to lose sight of this, to see the tracing as a single whole, would be like seeing words as units without con sidering the letters that compose them. When we read, we do recog nize whole words, patterns, but, having learned the letters first, revert to this base intuitively when we encounter a new word, or one that is misspelled."

Recenzje

...a unique guide to the interpretation of the electrocardiogram...provide(s) a clear insightful method of the analysis of ECGs based on clinical reasoning as opposed to simple pattern recognition and rote memorization...a logical, entertaining and instructive guide...- Doody's Health Sciences Book Review Journal

Spis treści

Introduction. How to Describe and Interpret an Electrocardiogram. Electrocardiography in Perspective. Anatomic and Physiologic Basis of the Electrocardiogram. Lead Systems. Electrocardiographic Equipment and Methods: Including Artifacts and Technical Errors. Analytic Methods. Disorder of Impulse Formation. Abnormalities of Atrioventricular Conduction. Abnormalities of Intraventricular Conduction. Myocardial Infarction. Atrial and Ventricular Enlargement. Abnormalities of Ventricular Repolarization. Selected Topics. Appendix. Bibliography. Index.