ECG abnormality
 

I am hopefully considering a career in aviation (when things pick up) and was at work the other day in the local hospital. Things were a bit quiet so I decided to get an ECG done (10 lead). The trace reported widespread ST elevation - consider pericarditis. I am 22 years old and pretty fit so this came as a bit of a shock. I have done some research and have found that this is a finding in some young healthy males - my question is: do I have anything to worry about and would this fail a class 1 medical?

The thing about these new-fangled ECG machines which analyse the trace for you is that occasionally they are right. Often, though, they are wrong.

Step one is not to worry. Step two is to get the ECG interpreted by a human being. If you're a healthy young person, it is unlikely that an ECG will detect an abnormality which will mean you can't get a Class 1. The two most likely possibilities to disqualify you in this way, which I would guess are Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome and Long QT Syndrome, do not show ST elevation on the ECG.

In any case, it is highly unlikely that you would have had acute pericarditis without knowing it.

QDM