Electrocardiography: A Guide for Physicians, Medical Students, Nurse Practitioners, and other Healthcare Providers

ISBN 10: 1627342591, ISBN 13: 9781627342599

The electrocardiogram can serve as an independent identifier of myocardial disease or reflect anatomic, metabolic, hemodynamic, or electrophysiological alterations in the heart. It can provide information that is often essential for the proper diagnosis and treatment of a variety of disorders and is without equal as a method for diagnosing cardiac arrhythmias. It is the procedure of choice for patients who present with chest pain, dizziness, syncope, or symptoms that may indicate risk of myocardial infarction or sudden death.

Primary care providers are often the first, and sometimes the only, point of contact for many patients within the health care system. The standard 12-lead electrocardiogram is one of the most common tests obtained and interpreted by the primary care physician, with most providers reading their own recordings and basing clinical decisions on their findings. It has been shown that primary care physicians can achieve proficiency in the interpretation of over 95 percent of all electrocardiogram findings seen in the primary care setting.

Although computerized interpretation is widely available, it is considered unreliable in up to 20 percent of the cases, making interpretation by primary care providers an essential skill. This book provides the necessary skills for primary care providers to use in interpreting electrocardiograms, both in their offices and in the emergency departments of their hospitals.

This book is the result of a course I taught in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Mississippi School of Medicine and five articles titled Electrocardiography for the Family Physician I subsequently published in Family Practice Recertification.

In short, this book is the one I wish I had access to during the many years I actively practiced family medicine and when I was a resident in family medicine.

Although this book was written with the primary care physician in mind, it should prove useful to medical students, residents in all primary care specialties, primary care nurse practitioners, and physician assistants. It is an outgrowth of my prior book Electrocardiography for the Family Physician.