Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

SEPTEMBER 26, 2023

Methods and Results Patients with confirmed ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) treated by emergency medical services were included in this retrospective cohort analysis of the AVOID study. Greater severity of chest pain is presumed to be associated with a stronger likelihood of a true positive STEMI diagnosis. years old ± 13.7

Chest Pain 119

Chest Pain STEMI Myocardial Infarction Electrocardiogram 119

Ken Grauer, MD

AUGUST 26, 2023

These tall T waves are associated with flattening ( straightening ) of the ST segment in the inferior leads — with slight S T elevation in leads V2-thru-V6 ( albeit not enough to qualify as a "STEMI" — Akbar et al, StatPearls, 2023 ). This point is discussed in detail in the March 24, 2023 post of Dr. Smith’s ECG Blog ).

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Blog Chest Pain STEMI Ischemia 144

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

APRIL 4, 2023

Acute Q waves are a marker of severe ischemia and a predictor for delayed reperfusion. This patient could have very easily been overlooked, both because the ECG was STEMI negative and because the Q waves were attributed to an “old infarct”. Fortunately, Dr. Cho was not looking for STEMI ECG criteria but for an acute coronary occlusion.

Chest Pain 52

Chest Pain STEMI Ischemia Document 52

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

AUGUST 2, 2024

This was a machine read STEMI positive OMI. In this patient's case, the RV ischemia manifested as dramatic anterior hyperacute T waves. This degree of STE is a bit atypical for LAD ischemia. Written by Willy Frick A 50 year old man with no medical history presented with acute onset substernal chest pain. His ECG is shown below.

STEMI 119

STEMI Ischemia Blog Chest Pain 119

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

OCTOBER 18, 2023

4,5] We have now formally studied this question: Emergency department Code STEMI patients with initial electrocardiogram labeled ‘normal’ by computer interpretation: a 7-year retrospective review.[6] have published a number of warnings about the previous reassuring studies.[4,5]

Chest Pain 119

Chest Pain STEMI Electrocardiogram Ischemia 119

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

NOVEMBER 22, 2023

Important point: when there is diffuse subendocardial ischemia but no OMI, a wall motion abnormality will not necessarily be present. They agreed ischemia was likely in the setting of demand given DKA and infection. That this is all demand ischemia is unlikely. Lung exam showed diffuse B lines bilaterally. Aslanger's pattern.

Chest Pain 119

Chest Pain Ischemia Echocardiogram Myocardial Infarction 119

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

JANUARY 28, 2023

Only very slight STE which does not meet STEMI criteria at this time. I am immediately worried that this OMI will not be understood, for many reasons including lack of sufficient STE for STEMI criteria, as well as the common misunderstanding of "no reciprocal findings" which is very common with this particular pattern.

STEMI 52

STEMI Chest Pain Stent Stents 52

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

JULY 30, 2023

The STD maximal in V1-V4 is diagnostic of acute transmural posterior wall ischemia, most likely due to posterior OMI. Subendocardial ischemia does not localize, and subendocardial ischemia presents with STD maximal in V5-6, II, and STE in aVR. It does not meet STEMI criteria. Subendocardial ischemia does not localize.

Chest Pain 52

Chest Pain Ischemia STEMI Arrhythmia 52

Ken Grauer, MD

OCTOBER 21, 2023

PEARL # 1: Although seeing an elevated Troponin would provide additional support for immediate cardiac catheterization — the clinical reality is that the initial Troponin reading will not always be elevated in patients with acute coronary occlusion ( See March 24, 2023 post in Dr. Smith's ECG Blog ).

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Blog Chest Pain Ischemia STEMI 99

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

DECEMBER 29, 2015

would require the ST/S ratio to be 25% for diagnosis of STEMI in LVH. The physician was concerned about STEMI, but also worried that she was overreacting, with the potential that LVH was producing a "STEMI-mimic." Can you diagnose an ACO (STEMI) when you also have LVH? The criteria of Armstrong et al. References 1.

STEMI 40

STEMI Myocardial Infarction Chest Pain Aneurysm 40

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

OCTOBER 25, 2023

A prior ECG was available for comparison: Normal One might be tempted to interpret the ST depression as ischemia, but as Smith says, "when the QT is impossibly long, think of hypokalemia and a U-wave rather than T-wave." Is it STEMI? Instead — it commonly reflects ischemia from severe underlying coronary disease.

Ischemia 124

Ischemia Chest Pain Cardiac Arrest Blog 124

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

NOVEMBER 15, 2023

This suggests further severe ischemia. STEMI MINOCA versus NSTEMI MINOCA STEMI occurs in the presence of transmural ischaemia due to transient or persistent complete occlusion of the infarct-related coronary artery. This has resulted in an under-representation of STEMI MINOCA patients in the literature. From Gue at al.

Coronary Angiogram 109

Coronary Angiogram Plaque Thrombosis STEMI 109

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

SEPTEMBER 10, 2023

Post Cath ECG: Obviously completing MI with LVA morphology, and STE that meets STEMI criteria (but pt is still diagnosed as "NSTEMI"). Smith : the profound persistent STE suggests either persistent occlusion or " no reflow " with persistent downstream ischemia. Long term outcome unknown but obviously bleak.

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STEMI Myocardial Infarction Ischemia Academic 78

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

SEPTEMBER 5, 2023

I would expect TIMI-3 flow (normal flow, no persistent ischemia) with a culprit in the RCA (or possibly Circumflex). Quiz : What percent of full blown STEMI have an open artery with normal flow at angiogram? It too is "normal" and you decide that this is not OMI or STEMI and you just decide to get troponins.

Chest Pain 98

Chest Pain STEMI Stent Stents 98

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

AUGUST 19, 2023

This is diagnostic of infero-posterior OMI, but it is falsely negative by STEMI criteria and with falsely negative posterior leads (though they do show mild ST elevation in V4R). They were less likely to have STEMI on ECG, and more likely to be initially diagnosed as non-ACS.

Chest Pain 98

Chest Pain STEMI Myocardial Infarction Blog 98

Ken Grauer, MD

MAY 20, 2023

This blog post reviews the basics for predicting the " C ulprit" A rtery — as well as the importance of the term, " O MI" ( = O cclusion-based MI ) as an improvement from the outdated STEMI paradigm. ECG Blog #271 — Reviews determination of the ST segment baseline ( with discussion of the entity of diffuse Subendocardial Ischemia).

Blog 144

Blog Chest Pain Ischemia STEMI 144

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

AUGUST 6, 2024

In any case, the ECG is diagnostic of severe ischemia and probably OMI. So this could be myocarditis but in my opinion needs an angiogram before making that diagnosis. == Dr. Nossen Comment/Interpretation: Evaluation of ischemia on an ECG can be very challenging. Concordant STE of 1 mm in just one lead or 2a.

Chest Pain 104

Chest Pain Ischemia Pericarditis Tachycardia 104

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

SEPTEMBER 5, 2024

It has been estimated that in the aggregate, they occur at a rate of about 3 per 1000 patients with acute MI, and most of these events occur in patients with STEMI. A mong patients with STEMI, ventricular septal rupture is the most common and free wall rupture is the least common.

Cardiogenic Shock 109

Cardiogenic Shock Pericarditis Chest Pain Myocardial Infarction 109

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

JANUARY 6, 2024

Here, I do not see OMI (although the ECG is falsely STEMI positive with just over 1 mm STE in V1 and about 2.5 In the days before I learned to look for OMI, back when I was counting ST elevation boxes, I used to save ischemia for last.) I interpret tracings systematically in "real time" ( including my assessment for acute ischemia ).

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Blog Ischemia Tachycardia STEMI 111

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

NOVEMBER 3, 2023

The baseline ECG is basically normal with no ischemia. You can see in the lead-specific analysis that she "sees" the STD in V5, V5, and II, with STE in aVR as signs of "Not OMI", because subendocardial ischemia pattern is not the same as OMI. In my opinion, I think it looks more like subendocardial ischemia.

Chest Pain 83

Chest Pain Cardiogenic Shock Ischemia Myocardial Infarction 83

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

JULY 14, 2023

My interpretation was: RBBB with hyperacute T-waves in V4-V6 that are all but diagnostic of LAD occlusion vs. post ROSC ischemia. The patient had ROSC and maintained it. A 12-lead ECG was obtained: What do you think? Regional wall motion abnormality--apical anterior, mid anteroseptal, apical septal, and apical inferior akinesis.

Cardiac Arrest 98

Cardiac Arrest Chest Pain Defibrillator Atrial Flutter 98

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

MARCH 1, 2023

The precordial STD persists in severity from V4-V6, rather than being maximal in V1-V4 (as in posterior OMI), and so the ECG overall best fits the subendocardial ischemia pattern (diffuse supply/demand mismatch). A "STEMI alert" was called and soon cancelled.

Chest Pain 52

Chest Pain Ischemia Tachycardia Stenosis 52

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

DECEMBER 22, 2023

The patient with no prior cardiac history presented in the middle of the night with acute chest pain, and had this ECG recorded during active pain: I did not see any ischemia on this electrocardiogram. This is a case I had quite a while back. There is a normal amount of ST elevation in the precordial leads.

Chest Pain 116

Chest Pain Bradycardia Blog Electrocardiogram 116

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

FEBRUARY 1, 2023

There’s mild inferior ST elevation in III that doesn’t meet STEMI criteria, but it’s associated with ST depression in aVL and V2 that makes it diagnostic of infero-posterior Occlusion MI (from either RCA or circumflex)– accompanied by inferior Q waves of unknown age. Are there any signs of occlusion or reperfusion?

Chest Pain 52

Chest Pain STEMI Ischemia Stenosis 52

Ken Grauer, MD

MARCH 7, 2023

This blog post reviews the basics for predicting the " C ulprit" A rtery — as well as the importance of the term, " O MI" ( = O cclusion-based MI ) as an improvement from the outdated STEMI paradigm. ECG Blog #271 — Reviews determination of the ST segment baseline ( with discussion of the entity of diffuse Subendocardial Ischemia).

Blog 78

Blog Chest Pain STEMI Ischemia 78

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

JANUARY 1, 2024

Learning Point: Concordant ST segment elevation can arise from profound ischemia triggered by ventricular tachycardia (VT), or it may represent an exaggerated basal ST change accompanying tachycardia. The patient rapidly regained consciousness, reporting no residual pain. A peak troponin level of 70 ng/L was observed.

Tachycardia 112

Tachycardia Blog Ischemia Heart Failure 112

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

AUGUST 4, 2024

QOH versions 1 and 2 both say Not OMI, with high confidence, without any clinical context, despite the abnormal STE meeting STEMI criteria. That said — I did not interpret these differences as the result of acute ischemia. Of note, there is arguably terminal QRS distortion in V4-V6. Pericarditis maybe."

Pericarditis 117

Pericarditis Chest Pain Blog Aortic 117

Ken Grauer, MD

FEBRUARY 18, 2023

Looking at the location of ST elevation ( ie, in the inferior leads — and in V4,5,6 ) — and the location of ST depression ( ie, in leads I,aVL; V1,V2 ) — this ECG picture suggests an ongoing acute infero - postero - lateral STEMI. What is S hark F in M orphology ? Cardiopulmonary resuscitation was promptly started — but was unsuccessful.

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Blog AFIB Chest Pain STEMI 78

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

MARCH 27, 2023

I knew that, if the patient had presented with chest discomfort, that this ECG is diagnostic of inferior posterior OMI, even though it is not a STEMI. In subendocardial ischemia, cath lab is indicated if the pain persists in spite of medical therapy (aspirin, anticoagulant, IV nitro). At 100 minutes, the above ECG was recorded.

Chest Pain 52

Chest Pain Ischemia Myocardial Infarction Blog 52

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

SEPTEMBER 17, 2023

There is normal R-wave progression in the precordial leads with no evidence of ischemia. Troponin T peaked at 2074 ng/L (very high, typical of OMI/STEMI). Here the image quality is enhanced using the PM Cardio app. What do you think? The presenting ECG shows SR with narrow QRS complexes. The LV EF was 57% at formal echo.

Pulmonary 116

Pulmonary Tricuspid Chest Pain Cardiogenic Shock 116

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

SEPTEMBER 25, 2024

At 2111, the troponin I peaked at 12.252 ng/mL (this is in the range of STEMI patients, quite high). The patient’s angiogram should have been expedited, but the EKG change was not recognized as recurrence of transmural ischemia. For more on use of Opiates with acute ischemic CP — See the January 6, 2023 post in Dr. Smith's ECG Blog ).

Chest Pain 120

Chest Pain Blog Hospital Tachycardia 120

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

MAY 8, 2023

Code STEMI was activated by the ED physician based on the diagnostic ECG for LAD OMI in ventricular paced rhythm. This was several months after the 2022 ACC Guidelines adding modified Sgarbossa criteria as a STEMI equivalent in ventricular paced rhythm). LAFB, atrial flutter, anterolateral STEMI(+) OMI. Limkakeng AT.

Chest Pain 52

Chest Pain Myocardial Infarction STEMI Pacemaker 52

Ken Grauer, MD

JULY 22, 2023

KEY Point: In areas of the heart where an acute STEMI produces ST elevation — reperfusion T waves ( that develop after the "culprit" artery reopens ) will appear as T wave inversion. In 2023 — it should be EASY to locate and transmit previous ECGs for comparison from established patients.

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Blog Chest Pain STEMI AFIB 78

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

APRIL 17, 2023

The Queen of Hearts correctly says: Smith : Why is this ECG which manifests so much ST Elevation NOT a STEMI (even if it were a 60 year old with chest pain)? Physician interpretation: "No STEMI." Physician: "No STEMI." Cardiologist interpretation: "Technically does not meet STEMI criteria but concerning for ischemia."

Chest Pain 52

Chest Pain STEMI Document Ischemia 52

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

FEBRUARY 10, 2023

Inferior ST Depression does NOT mean there is inferior subendocardial ischemia; it is generally reciprocal to high lateral (aVL) subepicardial ischemia (OMI/STEMI) == MY Comment by K EN G RAUER, MD ( 2/10/2023 ): == There are certain patterns in ECG interpretation that experienced providers are able to immediately recognize.

STEMI 52

STEMI Chest Pain Ischemia Angioplasty 52

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

JANUARY 6, 2023

I do not think this ECG is by itself diagnostic of OMI (full thickness, subepicardial ischemia ), b ut comparison to a previous might reveal this ECG as diagnostic of OMI. Immediate and early percutaneous coronary intervention in very high-risk and high-risk Non-STEMI patients. Lupu L, et al. mg/dL, K 3.5 Abstract 556.

Chest Pain 52

Chest Pain Ischemia Myocardial Infarction ICU 52

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

SEPTEMBER 24, 2023

Notice that much of the dark blue is concentrated on the QRS (R-wave); the QRS is totally ignored in the STEMI paradigm!! In my opinion — the problem is not giving morphine, but rather the inability to recognize acute ECG changes when millimeter-based stemi criteria are not attained. aVL has a lot of dark blue also, as does lead I.

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Chest Pain Atrial Fibrillation AFIB Myocardial Infarction 86