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Heart Monitor, Stress Test, EKG, Esophagitis. Indigestion?
Question: I had a 24 hr heart monitor put on that returned 59 episodes of changes. I then went for a stress test/ekg that returned some changes, but not enough to cause alarm to the cardiologist. I go tomorrow for a stress test w/imaging and I'm petrified...should I be worried of a heart condition? I was diagnosed with mild esophagitis last year. Could it be indigestion related?
Hello,
Thanks for posting your query.
Firstly, being a female itself decreases your risk of a heart disease. Estrogen, the female hormone is thought to play a protective role in the same.
If the stress EKG is not strongly positive, then the possibility of a heart disease is quite. The possibility of false positive changes in the stress EKG is much more common in the females as compared to the males.
False positive means that the heart disease is not present in spite of the stress EKG coming as positive.
The changes in the stress EKG were doubtful and that's the reason your doctor has gone for the stress thallium/imaging tests.
Esophagitis can give rise to the symptoms which mimic the symptoms of a heart disease. I don't think you need to worry much.
However, the stress thallium is going to clarify the picture and hopefully it'll be negative for reversible ischemia.
Ischemia means a compromised blood supply to the heart during the exercise and when the test is negative, it means there was no compromised blood supply to the heart during exercise.
Hope this answers your query. If you have additional questions or follow up queries then please do not hesitate in writing to us. I will be happy to answer your queries.
Wishing you good health.
Thanks for posting your query.
Firstly, being a female itself decreases your risk of a heart disease. Estrogen, the female hormone is thought to play a protective role in the same.
If the stress EKG is not strongly positive, then the possibility of a heart disease is quite. The possibility of false positive changes in the stress EKG is much more common in the females as compared to the males.
False positive means that the heart disease is not present in spite of the stress EKG coming as positive.
The changes in the stress EKG were doubtful and that's the reason your doctor has gone for the stress thallium/imaging tests.
Esophagitis can give rise to the symptoms which mimic the symptoms of a heart disease. I don't think you need to worry much.
However, the stress thallium is going to clarify the picture and hopefully it'll be negative for reversible ischemia.
Ischemia means a compromised blood supply to the heart during the exercise and when the test is negative, it means there was no compromised blood supply to the heart during exercise.
Hope this answers your query. If you have additional questions or follow up queries then please do not hesitate in writing to us. I will be happy to answer your queries.
Wishing you good health.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
What does "If the stress EKG is not strongly positive, then the possibility of a heart disease is quite" mean?
When you say "I don't think you need to worry much" does this mean overall or regarding the esophagitis thoughts?
When you say "I don't think you need to worry much" does this mean overall or regarding the esophagitis thoughts?
Hello,
Thanks for writing back.
If the stress EKG is not strongly positive, then the possibility of a heart disease is quite less likely. However stress thallium/imaging tests are quite confirmatory for a heart condition and hence it is better to get them done. But as i told you earlier, if the stress EKG is not strongly positive then chances of the stress imaging tests to be coming positive are very low.
Hence you do not need to worry much about a heart disease or cardiac cause. Hopefully the stress imaging tests will come out all clear.
Hope this answers your query. If you have additional questions or follow up queries then please do not hesitate in writing to us. I will be happy to answer your queries.
Wishing you good health.
Thanks for writing back.
If the stress EKG is not strongly positive, then the possibility of a heart disease is quite less likely. However stress thallium/imaging tests are quite confirmatory for a heart condition and hence it is better to get them done. But as i told you earlier, if the stress EKG is not strongly positive then chances of the stress imaging tests to be coming positive are very low.
Hence you do not need to worry much about a heart disease or cardiac cause. Hopefully the stress imaging tests will come out all clear.
Hope this answers your query. If you have additional questions or follow up queries then please do not hesitate in writing to us. I will be happy to answer your queries.
Wishing you good health.
Note: For further queries related to coronary artery disease and prevention, click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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