What Do These Following Lab Reports Indicate?

Posted on Sat, 17 Dec 2016

Question: Trying to understand lab results. I was in my doctor's office and she called an ambulance and had me sent to the emergency room. I presume my doctor thought it was a medical necessity but the emergency room didn't seem to think there was anything wrong. They ran a metabolic panel in which the only abnormal results were low potassium, low CO2, high AGAP and high Ca. The CBC showed PLATELET CLUMPS and low Eosinophil. Troponin T, Protime-INR and D-Dimer, Quantitative were all Normal. And the PTT was low. None of the test were excessively low or high. A CT was run with no abnormal findings for a 50 year old female. An EKG was done and presume it was normal but the ECG 12 lead says Diagnosis Class Abnormal then goes on to say normal sinus rhythm nonspecific T wave abnormality, prolonged QT, Abnormal ECG. The emergency room doctor said he believes maybe I was just having a panic attack. My primary care doctor who sent me to the hospital says she thinks it is something else. I was short of breath and a little out of it. Do the test mean anything?

Answered by Dr. Muhammad Ahmad (3 hours later)

Brief Answer:
No emergency apparently but a cardiologist should be visited.

Detailed Answer:
Hello,

Thanks for writing to Health Care Magic, I am Dr Muhammd Ahmad, I have closely read your question and I understand your concerns, I will hereby guide you regarding your health related problem.

You doctor suspected something sent you to the emergency and they did almost a marathon of tests which were normal except the ECG interpretation by the machine. Now when i consider all this scenario, in my opinion there is indeed no emergency situation but as you had symptoms like shortness of breath and ECG showed changes, you should arrange a visit with a cardiologist to discuss these symptoms and ECG reports.

Here I would like to mention one thing that although report by an ECG machine is a great help but sometimes this alone can not be relied upon as it does not know the details about the patient like history, examination findings, comorbidities etc which are very important in diagnosing and determining risk, so when ever a machine reports abnormal ECG one should discuss it with a cardiologist.

The ECG changes reported by the machine are not emergency changes but they need to be checked by a cardiologist because a long QT in an ECG can cause arrhythmia which can be fatal, but a cardiologist can determine the risk looking into overall situation.

In short: There does not seem to be any emergency situation currently as you were quite thoroughly worked up by the ER but yes in my opinion you should pay a visit to cardiologist to discuss the matter. Till then you don't need any specific medication plus you have to avoid medication which prolong QT.

I hope this answered your question, if you have more feel free to ask,otherwise close the discussion and rate it.

Regards.

Dr.Muhammad Ahmad.
General and Family Physician..

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Raju A.T