Electrocardiogram (EKG)
Electrocardiogram (EKG) is a fast, painless way to help detect and diagnose heart conditions. Using electrode patches placed on your body, an EKG records your heart’s electrical signals and produces them as a graph for your doctor to measure your heart’s activity.
What You Need To Know
EKG is used to show the electric rhythm of your heart to help diagnose or detect conditions.
It can be used to:
- Diagnose heart disease or heart attack
- Determine if the heart is beating normally
- Measure changes in activity and the hearts response to medications or pacemakers
- Measure the size of the heart’s chambers and detect heart enlargement
- Show damage to the heart
EKG is a simple, safe, painless exam. If you have any questions about the exam, speak to your doctor or ask our staff.
What To Expect
- There is no preparation for this exam.
- You will lay on an exam table for the entire exam, which takes about 10 minutes.
- The technologist will place 10 electrode patches and wires will be placed on your chest, arms and legs.
- It is important that you lay still and breathe normally during the exam.
- Once your exam is complete, you do not need to check out with the front desk when you leave.
- After the exam, your results will be sent electronically to a cardiologist who will review the information and send a report to your referring provider, typically within one to two business days.
- You should follow up with your referring provider to discuss your results.