EKG and echocardiogram - any useful info for runners? (Read 914 times)

It won't hurt. Last year (October/November) I had some slight chest pains/dizziness when running. The doctor thought it was nothing but he did an EKG anyway. Something didn't look quite right so he sent me for a echo and a chest xray. Well to everyones surprise (espically mine) it showed I had severe/moderate aoritic regurgitation and an enlarged left ventrical. Never had anything suspected before that. Now I'm on daily bloodpressure medicine to reduce my blood pressure which has been somewhat successful in reducing the size of my ventrical. I see the cardiologist every 6 months. I'm in a wait and see mode but will probably need my heart valve replaced at somepoint. While I can still run, I've been told to stay away from races because with the extra exertion, my bloodpressure rises too much. So, if your doctor recommends an EKG and echo, go get it done. Better to be safe.

Bugs maybe you should ask for a peepshow discount Well here's my update thus far: I had my EKG - and I'll be darned - there was a very slightly peaked T-wave (printout read "borderline abnormal, consider hyperkalemia" ... high potassium levels), so my next step is to schlep out to the lab to get blood work to check out my renal function. If the bloodwork checks out, my physician said he'd write it off as normal for me, given the history. My physician partner (an ER doc, not a cardiologist, mind you) looked at the ekg and said, "that's not a peaked T-wave, but get your bloodwork anyway". I was, OTOH, pleased to see that the readout said "sinus bradycardia", even though my resting HR isn't all *that* slow at 56 bpm, but hey, iit was 66 bpm 2 yrs ago. Arla

(And BTW, I really hope you don't have the opportunity to prove me wrong and have some heart or electrolyte disease...for real)

arlahile, I hope you get the answers you need.