ECG fail....

[Kalel1987]

Hi, last Thursday I had my class 1 medical at Gatwick. All was going well till the ECG scan showed an "irregular beat" and there was no cardio specialist in that day so I would have to wait until Monday (yesterday) for the specialist to make sense of the results. No problem, I started making my way home, obviously slightly concerned and upset....


As I get home and turn my mobile back on I get a voicemail saying:
" ohh mr ?? It's stacy from the Caa medical centre if you're not too far away could you possibly come back and REDO the ECG, we may have wired you up incorrectly"

I call back and speak to numerous amount of people who all give a different story:
"noo this sort of scan results have been seen many times before you should be fine but we need to get dr ?? To sign it off as ok"

"the ECG may have been wired up incorrectly we would need to redo the ECG"

And plenty of other bull****.



Now I've had to wait until Monday (which was my birthday) to get told I need to fork out another £450 for an exercise ECG and EKG scan. I repeated the whole story of "maybe the wires were incorrectly placed" they denied the possibility and said thata not the case. I've paid the money and have an appointment tomorrow for the running ECG & EKG. But DAMN I know it's psychological but I've started getting sharp chest pains. It usually happens when I'm thinking about it (stupid I know"



>>>><<<<
I had an ECG scan in hospital in January which showed no sign of irregular/abnormal activity. It was because I was having chest pains after too much heavy lifting at the gym.

So is it possible I fail? Is my paranoia getting the best of me?

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

An ECG rarely tells the whole story and often show "glitches". I had one for many years but it was never investigated further. Several AMEs said it was due to ME being wired differently; ie the electrical pathways in my heart were slightly different. That's what they might have meant for you?

The thing about SRG is that they have to have a reason for things; they can't just pat you on the head like a GP and tell you all is well. After all, people's lives may depend on you sometime so they want to ensure that all is well to the best of their ability.

I find it somewhat disturbing that you are getting worked up and using bad language. If you have that attitude you will not progress far in aviation, which demands calm professionals. Just calm down, do the tests and see what happens.

Good luck and I hope all will be well.

[Kalel1987]

I understand and agree but I feel I'm being given false information about what has happened or what should happen. I wouldn't get worked up otherwise.


Imagine the situation.
Ive been told by the dr who did my ECG:
"it's nothing serious we see this all the time but we need the specialist to sign you off"

Told by the receptionist/nurse:
"could you please come back to redo the scan, as we MAY have placed the wires incorrectly"

Told by another nurse:
"we will need to run further tests as this is an unusual case"


So just one scan has lead to 3 possible outcomes:
A- it's NOTHING out of the blue
B- we MAY have done it wrong, sorry
C- hmmm, something is wrong with you, as a result we require more money & more tests.

And I'm supposed to be calm?

[gingernut]

If I asked a machine to read the result of 100 ecg's from twenty-four year olds, probably about 66 of them would say it's "abnormal."

I'm wondering if it's an artefact?

Resting ECG's are notoriously innacurate, open to a wide interpretation, and sometimes of little value. Unless you're having a heart attack, in which case they can be useful.

Doctor's and nurses, love 'em, it's a chance for them to look clever.

Have a nice weekend, avoid stuff which may cause problems (eg red wine and 20 B&H), chill, and next time, lye flatter on the couch and remember to breathe! Regulary.

Usually, doc's, nurses and dentists offer a better warranty than Halfords so I wouldn't worry too much about the cost.

And give us an update.:)

[Kalel1987]

Lol!
Thank you, the test is tomorrow afternoon. Slightly dreading it.


As for the relax & don't forget to breathe I did, doctor asked me to hold my breath after.


I don't smoke or drink. I'm abit if a gym freak, in pretty good shape. Let's see how it goes. Fingers crossed all is well. I'll keep you informed.

[NukeHunt]

At my last ECG the machine indicated I'd had a heart attack !!. :eek:

I wouldn't worry about it, as gingernut said they can be very inaccurate. The AME said that the CAA may contact me regarding it, but they never did.

I'd query the cost though as surely they should only need to charge you for the ECG part of the test, not for the whole thing again.

[Neptunus Rex]

First and foremost, do not worry about it. When you do the ECG, imagine you are jogging along, or lying on, a beutiful tropical beach.

I know of three pilots, myself included, who have had erroneous ECGs. In all cases a second test showed that all was well.

[stuckgear]

just been shouting the OP out to my wife who works in the NHS in a cardiology function.

she questions the quote of 'irregular heartbeat' was that what you were indicated? do you the have the ECG printout?

(NB. my wife makes sure i always bring mine back which she double checks and is often critical of lead placing - NukeHunt, apparantly the reason why you would have been showing an arrest is the placing of the leads too high up the chest.)

If the leades were the wrong way round, the complexes would have been reversed (yeah, its like swahili to me too !!) - i think thats what she described, so please excuse any errors in the relaying of information.

kalel if you want to PM me or have questions post away i'll get the wife to help you understand what is going on.

[Landflap]

And as we debate, another one bites the dust. A regular contributor (411A) to other threads has had a "massive heart attack" and passed on. He was 67 so I can't say how he was still flying in Command of Public Transport aircraft. I did not know him but faced up to many like him. It appears that he was quite hot-headed about most things. My question though; why should any of us croak with a massive heart attack when we are subjected to regular medical checks ?

Oh & 'me too' ! Passed my last Class One but when wired up, the nurse looked concerned, held my hand gently and asked silly things like."Are you OK ?.................Traffic problems getting here ?....Everything OK at home ?" I enquired about her concern and she called the Doc because it looked, according to the machine, that I was having a heart ceasure right there and then ! If she had bothered to look at ME..cool, relaxed, thinking about that long slip of beach in Bongo Bongo, breathing like a Guru freak & trying very hard NOT to focus on her fabbo rear....................er, where was I.....................oh yeah, SHE would have seen that there was nothing wrong with moi ! Doc told everyone to relax and chewed her out for using the machine that was scheduled for Maintenence !!!

I am still at loggerheads with the medical profession. Oh, & they tell us to avoid red wine yet everytime I read something in the Medical Press, I am told that a glass of red wine a day is fantastically good for you !! Stop listening to the quacks. Moderation in everything is the key & TRY to stay away from stress.

[gingernut]

Landflap that is bad news indeed and I would like to try and answer your questioinm but am currently posting from cornwall beach on froim one of my daughter s toysm can medical0checks accurately predict hesert attacks no

[Landflap]

Thanks Gnut. That's me told. Not a lot of point in having these checks then eh ? And before you declare that it is better than nothing, shows a trend, bit like an MOT...yeah yeah yeah. Appreciate the effort taken to reply though. Blimey, now you can send an email on a Barbi-doll ! Enjoy the beach rest & do have a glass of red wine. Cheers.

[antic81]

Hi Kalel,

Any news on the second take?

I actually had the pleasure of taking the ECG for a class 1 in South Africa about 12 years ago and that one was not at rest - I had to cycle like a mad man for about ten minutes and the silly leads kept falling off - when I did my class 1 here at Gatwick I was expecting the same - and was pleasantly suprised to find it was at rest.

In those days they used to do that fun test to see if you are epileptic...since they've decided to bin that (rumour has it that someone sued over a siezure, although my AME said that was bollocks and in fact it just wasnt reliable enough...)

Best of luck - hope it went well!

As far as the extra money goes...unfortunately you're going to have to get used to spending in this business!

[gingernut]

Yes it is amazing this technology,two hours ago I was surfing in Watergate Bay,
watching the local military helicopter boys seeing how low they can go,
(And they can go low),next minute am back on pprune!

The debate seems to be around if the various cardiac tests
Performed,can reliably predict future problems. There are
Various methods we use to predict risk,some high tech
(Scans of plaque on arteries) ' some low tech,
Using risk calculators eg Framingham. _Unfortuntelty,
Neither can pinpoint which patients will drop down
Due to that risk_the technology 'aint that good

Should you continue to have your health checks ? .Yes as they
Can reduce the risk but they won,t guarantee that you
Won't drop down dead the day after.

[MaxBlow]

last week my AME told me that I failed the ECG. He put me on the bike for 8 min. and I got the same result again. My pump is off beat at times and I have to wear a wire now for 24 hrs to find out what (if anything) is wrong. I made an appointment with a cardiologist to be sure I'm ok.

I am feeling very well...but that doesn't say anything. I am concerned and worried, quit coffee and the gym until I know what's wrong with my generator.

I worked out quite hard the last few month (being away from home on a contract) which might have been a contributing factor.

It is shocking when the doc tells you that you're grounded. I've been going to the same AME for 21yrs now and it always took about 1.5hrs to get out of there, this time I drove home with a million thoughts going thru my mind like what if etc...

I'd rather be flying

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

I had great respect for the CAA quacks, both at Gatwick and at Heathrow, where I had all my annual medicals.

As for the heart specialist.... well, my mother lived with us for a while when my father died. She was quite old and suffered from arthritis and other problems. One afternoon after her siesta she didn't appear at the usual time. When I checked I found her ashen, having difficulty breathing and experiencing severe chest pains. Called our GP and he attended straight away and called an ambulance saying it looked like a heart attack.

Some hours later, the hospital discharged her with 2-3 tablets..... "if it happens again, put one of these heart tablets under your tongue and take a spoonful of indigestion mixture". I kid you not!

[sorvad]

HEATHROW DIRECTOR

...uhmm.....whats your point exactly?

[cavortingcheetah]

With a respectful nod to the Director I would say his point was that British medical diagnostic skills leave much to be desired. I think they're nothing short of primitive.
I concur entirely in his comments about the CAA medical department from whom I have received nothing but courteous and professional treatment.

[aztruck]

Well chaps I am a happy v fit 53 year old with a resting pulse of 50. Enough for the feds to want to wire me up for 24 hours to see why.
I could tell them that I run 15 miles a week and dont smoke but at least they havent grounded me.
My AME is utterly unconcerned and thinks they are potty, no other wierd stuff.....just a low resting pulse. Its been the same for years.

[misterblue]

Maybe have a quick 'tug' just before your medical...;)