Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

APRIL 6, 2024

A young woman presented with acute chest pain. In fact, it read: ** **ACUTE MI / STEMI ** ** The physicians caring for the patient activated the cath lab for "STEMI". In fact, it read: ** **ACUTE MI / STEMI ** ** The physicians caring for the patient activated the cath lab for "STEMI".

Chest Pain 110

Chest Pain STEMI Hospital 110

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

OCTOBER 17, 2024

Written by Jesse McLaren Two patients in their 70s presented to the ED with chest pain and RBBB. Patient 1 : a 75 year old called paramedics with one day of left shoulder pain which migrated to the central chest, which was worse with deep breaths. Do either, both, or neither have occlusion MI? Vitals were normal.

Chest Pain 73

Chest Pain STEMI Pulmonary Embolism 73

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

MARCH 31, 2024

The patient was a middle-aged female who had acute chest pain of approximately 6 hours duration. The pain was still active at the time of evaluation. The interventional cardiologist then canceled the activation and returned the patient to the ED without doing an angiogram ("Not a STEMI"). mm STE in the posterior leads.

Chest Pain 97

Chest Pain STEMI Ischemia Myocardial Infarction 97

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

NOVEMBER 27, 2023

Written by Jesse McLaren A 45 year old presented with two weeks of recurring non-exertional chest pain, now constant for an hour. Because of the ECG changes in a patient with chest pain, and with inferolateral hypokinesis on POCUS, the cath lab was activated. Below is old and then new ECG (old on top; new below).

Chest Pain 93

Chest Pain STEMI Ischemia Anatomy 93

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

SEPTEMBER 3, 2023

This was sent by anonymous The patient is a 55-year-old male who presented to the emergency department after approximately 3 to 4 days of intermittent central boring chest pain initially responsive to nitroglycerin, but is now more constant and not responsive to nitroglycerin. It is unknown when this pain recurred and became constant.

Chest Pain 133

Chest Pain Defibrillator STEMI Coronary Artery Disease 133

American College of Cardiology

NOVEMBER 5, 2024

A small proportion of patients with STEMI treated via primary PCI experienced late ventricular tachycardia (VT) or ventricular fibrillation (VF), occurring one or more days following the procedure, but late VT or VF with cardiac arrest occurred rarely, especially among patients with uncomplicated STEMI, according to a study published in JAMA Network (..)

STEMI 49

STEMI Chest Pain Cardiac Arrest Tachycardia 49

ECG Cases

MAY 10, 2023

In this ECG Cases blog we look at 10 cases of patients with chest pain, including false positive STEMI, false negative STEMI, and other causes to help hone your ECG interpretation skills in time-sensitive cases where those very ECG skills might save a life.

Chest Pain 52

Chest Pain STEMI Blog Pericarditis 52

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

AUGUST 11, 2024

Written by Jesse McLaren A healthy 75 year old developed 7/10 chest pain associated with diaphoresis and nausea, which began on exertion but persisted. Below is the first ECG recorded by paramedics after 2 hours of chest pain, interpreted by the machine as “possible inferior ischemia”. What do you think?

Chest Pain 78

Chest Pain STEMI Bradycardia Article 78

ECG Cases

DECEMBER 20, 2022

Jesse McLaren discusses some key aspects of cocaine chest pain ECG interpretation in this month's blog including: Patients with cocaine-associated chest pain require benzodiazepines +/- nitroglycerine for symptom relief, aspirin and ECG to look for signs of occlusion and reperfusion.

Chest Pain 52

Chest Pain STEMI Blog Ischemia 52

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

AUGUST 16, 2024

Written by Pendell Meyers A man in his 60s presented with acute chest pain and normal vital signs. Its hard to measure the STE in I exactly with the moving baseline, but there is almost certainly not enough STE to meet STEMI criteria. Here is his triage ECG: What do you think? They are symmetric, fat, convex on both sides, etc.

Chest Pain 106

Chest Pain STEMI Blog 106

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

SEPTEMBER 15, 2023

I came to work one day and one of my partners said, "Hey, Steve, we had a STEMI this afternoon!" Of course he said: "Yes, it was a 60 year old diabetic with Chest pain." That is not a STEMI. They had activated the cath lab and the interventionalist did not notice that it was not a STEMI/OMI. He said: "What?

Chest Pain 132

Chest Pain Diabetes STEMI Blog 132

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

FEBRUARY 9, 2024

Written by Jesse McLaren A 65 year old with a history of atrial flutter, CABG and end-stage renal disease on dialysis presented with 3 days of fluctuating chest pain, which was ongoing at triage. So a patient with high pretest probability (prior CABG with new chest pain), had new ECG changes showing posterior OMI.

Chest Pain 113

Chest Pain STEMI Atrial Flutter Ischemia 113

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

FEBRUARY 13, 2023

Written by Jesse McLaren Two 70 year olds had acute chest pain with nausea and shortness of breath, and called paramedics. There’s inferior ST depression which is reciprocal to subtle lateral convex ST elevation, and the precordial T waves are subtly hyperacute – all concerning for STEMI(-)OMI of proximal LAD.

Chest Pain 52

Chest Pain STEMI Myocardial Infarction Electrocardiogram 52

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

JUNE 21, 2023

Sent by Magnus Nossen MD, written by Pendell Meyers A man in his 50s, previously healthy, developed acute chest pain. The primary care physician there evaluated this patient and deemed the chest pain to be due to gastrointestinal causes. In this case, the EMS provider was routed to the urgent care facility.

Chest Pain 98

Chest Pain Cardiac Arrest STEMI Defibrillator 98

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

APRIL 4, 2023

Submitted by Dr. Dennis Cho (@DennisCho), written by Jesse McLaren A 70-year-old with no cardiac history presented with 2 hours of chest pain radiating to the neck, associated with shortness of breath. Fortunately, Dr. Cho was not looking for STEMI ECG criteria but for an acute coronary occlusion. OMI or STEMI?

Chest Pain 52

Chest Pain STEMI Ischemia Document 52

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

NOVEMBER 10, 2024

Written by Pendell Meyers, few edits by Smith A woman in her 70s was woken from sleep by midsternal chest pain radiating to left arm with nausea. The is very small STE in III and aVF which do not meet STEMI criteria, hyperacute T waves, reciprocal TWI in aVL, and maximal STD in V2-V3 showing posterior OMI. Very frustrating.

STEMI 81

STEMI Chest Pain Echocardiogram Stents 81

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

AUGUST 9, 2024

Written by Colin Jenkins and Nhu-Nguyen Le with edits by Willy Frick and by Smith A 46-year-old male presented to the emergency department with 2 days of heavy substernal chest pain and nausea. The patient continued having chest pain. Is there STEMI? Fortunately the patient was then taken for angiography.

Chest Pain 88

Chest Pain Arrhythmia Myocardial Infarction STEMI 88

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

OCTOBER 27, 2024

This was submitted by a paramedic, Hailey Kennedy A late 50s male called 911 following 2 hours of chest pain that started while working at his desk. He reported the crushing chest pain radiated down his left arm. The cath lab was deactivated by cardiologist on arrival at ED because it was "not a STEMI".

STEMI 119

STEMI Chest Pain Myocardial Infarction Aneurysm 119

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

OCTOBER 30, 2024

All of the patients contacted EMS due to acute onset chest pain. The above ECG is from a 70 something male with chest pain. ECG #2 Case 2 : The above ECG was obtained from a diabetic 45 year old smoker with chest pain. All ECGs in this case have saddleback ST elevation. Which of the ECGs represent OMI?

Chest Pain 93

Chest Pain Aortic Myocardial Infarction STEMI 93

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

SEPTEMBER 1, 2023

A 50-something male had onset of chest pain 1 hour prior to ED arrival. Endorses some associated SOB, but denies back pain, fever, cough, chills, leg swelling, or other new symptoms. It was tested on a large database of known outcomes and was more than twice as senstivity as STEMI criteria and much better than cardiologists.

Chest Pain 126

Chest Pain STEMI Stenosis Myocardial Infarction 126

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

MARCH 9, 2024

Written by Willy Frick A 67 year old man with a history of hypertension presented with three days of chest pain radiating to his back. Due to the chest pain radiating into the patient's back, the ER physician ordered CTA chest to rule out aortic dissection. He had associated nausea, vomiting, and dyspnea.

Chest Pain 114

Chest Pain Pericarditis Aortic Echocardiogram 114

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

SEPTEMBER 25, 2024

A healthy 45-year-old female presented with chest pain, with normal vitals. The patient was previously healthy, with no atherosclerotic risk factors, and developed chest pain after an episode of stress. The pain was crushing retrosternal, radiated to the arms and was associated with lightheadedness.

Chest Pain 66

Chest Pain Pericarditis SCAD STEMI 66

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

JANUARY 29, 2024

This was sent by Sam Ghali @EM_RESUS A 44 year old man presented with chest pain The tech came running with the ECG as the computer called "STEMI!" So signed it NO STEMI and triaged him OK to not be in RESUS." What do you think? Sam sent this to me and asked: "What do you think, Steve?" My answer: --Tough one! --But

Chest Pain 81

Chest Pain STEMI Blog Outcomes 81

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

JUNE 13, 2024

Click here to sign up for Queen of Hearts Access Case A 58-year-old woman presented to the ED with burning chest pain that started 2-3 hours earlier while sitting on a porch swing. See this post: Septal STEMI with ST elevation in V1 and V4R, and reciprocal ST depression in V5, V6. Also seen in inferior + RV OMI.)

Chest Pain 91

Chest Pain Document STEMI Defibrillator 91

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

DECEMBER 29, 2023

Written by Jesse McLaren A previously healthy 50 year-old presented with 24 hours of intermittent exertional chest pain, radiating to the arms and associated with shortness of breath. In a previously healthy patient with new and ongoing chest pain, this is concerning for acute occlusion of the first diagonal artery.

Chest Pain 70

Chest Pain STEMI Myocardial Infarction Electrocardiogram 70

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

JUNE 19, 2023

Written by Kaley El-Arab MD, edits by Pendell Meyers and Stephen Smith A 61-year-old male with hypertension and hyperlipidemia presented to the emergency department for chest tightness radiating to the back of his neck that has been intermittent for the past day or two. Here is his triage ECG which was obtained at 20:34 during active pain.

Chest Pain 52

Chest Pain STEMI Cardiogenic Shock Ischemia 52

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

MARCH 22, 2024

Written by Willy Frick A man in his 50s with history of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and a 30 pack-year smoking history presented to the ER with 1 hour of acute onset, severe chest pain and diaphoresis. For national registry purposes, this will be incorrectly classified as a STEMI.) Most STEMI have peak cTnI greater than 10.0.

Chest Pain 113

Chest Pain STEMI Bradycardia Ischemia 113

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

JUNE 19, 2024

Case An 82 year old man with a history of hypertension presented to the ED with chest pain at 1211. He described his chest pain as pleuritic and reported that it started the day prior while swinging a golf club. His pain suddenly became much worse in the ED and he became acutely diaphoretic, dizzy, and hypotensive.

Chest Pain 60

Chest Pain Pericarditis Pacemaker STEMI 60

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

OCTOBER 18, 2023

Written by Jesse McLaren Four patients presented with chest pain. 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]

Chest Pain 119

Chest Pain STEMI Electrocardiogram Ischemia 119

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

MARCH 19, 2024

The patient presented to an outside hospital An 80yo female per triage “patient presents with chest pain, also hurts to breathe” PMH: CAD, s/p stent placement, CHF, atrial fibrillation, pacemaker (placed 1 month earlier), LBBB. HPI: Abrupt onset of substernal chest pain associated with nausea/vomiting 30 min PTA.

Chest Pain 93

Chest Pain Myocardial Infarction Stents Stent 93

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

AUGUST 6, 2024

Written by Magnus Nossen with Edits by Grauer and Smith The ECGs in today’s case are from 3 different patients all presenting with new-onset CP ( Chest Pain ). It definitely does not fulfill STEMI criteria, and I would argue that it would not lead to cath lab activation in most centers. The ECG shows ST depression in lead V3.

Chest Pain 90

Chest Pain Ischemia Pericarditis Tachycardia 90

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

MARCH 9, 2023

Sent by anonymous, written by Pendell Meyers A man in his 50s with no prior known medical history presented to the Emergency Department with severe intermittent chest pain. He denied any lightheadedness, shortness of breath, vomiting, or abdominal pain. Barely any STE, and thus not meeting STEMI criteria.

Chest Pain 52

Chest Pain STEMI Myocardial Infarction Blog 52

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

SEPTEMBER 29, 2023

Sent by anonymous, written by Pendell Meyers, reviewed by Smith and Grauer A man in his 40s presented to the ED with HTN, DM, and smoking history for evaluation of acute chest pain. He was eating lunch when he had sudden onset chest pressure, 9/10, radiating to his back, with sweating and numbness in both hands.

Chest Pain 123

Chest Pain Tachycardia STEMI Blog 123

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

JANUARY 20, 2024

Written by Pendell Meyers A man in his late 30s with history of hypertension, tobacco use, and obesity presented to the Emergency Department for acute chest pain which started approximately 3 hours prior to arrival, in the setting of a very stressful situation. The pain radiated down both arms, 10/10 in severity.

Chest Pain 118

Chest Pain STEMI Hypertension Blog 118

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

APRIL 22, 2024

A 50-something male with hypertension and 20- to 40-year smoking history presented with 1 week of stuttering chest pain that is worse with exertion, which takes many minutes to resolve after resting and never occurs at rest. At times the pain does go to his left neck. What do you think the prehospital ECG showed (with pain)?

Chest Pain 118

Chest Pain Myocardial Infarction Anatomy Angina 118

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

JANUARY 27, 2024

Written by Jesse McLaren, comments by Smith A 55 year old with a history of NSTEMI presented with two hours of exertional chest pain, with normal vitals. See these posts: Chest Pain, ST Elevation, and an Elevated Troponin: Should we Activate the Cath Lab? So this NSTEMI was likely a STEMI(-)OMI with delayed reperfusion.

Chest Pain 107

Chest Pain STEMI Aneurysm Stents 107

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

JUNE 17, 2023

Written by Pendell Meyers A middle aged man called EMS for acute chest pain. I believe there is not quite enough STE for formal STEMI criteria, but some might measure 1.0 Learning Points: False positive STEMI activations are unfortunately common. I said "Not OMI. Others probably thought lead V4 has a hyperacute T wave.

Chest Pain 52

Chest Pain STEMI Myocardial Infarction Electrocardiogram 52