Nonspecific ST-segment and T-wave changes




 * Associate Editor-In-Chief:

Overview
Non specific ST T wave changes refer to changes in the T waves (such as inversion or flattening) and ST segments (such as ST depression) on the electrocardiogram that due not follow an anatomic distribution and are not diagnostic of any one condition.

== Differential Diagnosis of Causes of Non Specific ST segment and T Wave changes ==
 * Adrenal insufficiency
 * Anxiety
 * Central nervous system diseases
 * Congestive heart failure
 * Digoxin
 * Electrolyte disturbances
 * Gallbladder disease
 * Heart failure
 * Hyperkalemia
 * Hyperventilation (in 70% of patients after 30 to 60 seconds)
 * Hypokalemia
 * Hypopituitarism
 * Hypothyroidism
 * Ischemic heart disease
 * Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH)
 * Mitral valve prolapse (MVP)
 * Orthostatic changes (3 to 23%), most prominent in the inferior leads
 * Pacemaker
 * Pancreatitis
 * Pheochromocytoma
 * Postprandial T-waves changes
 * Pulmonary embolism
 * Pericarditis
 * Right ventricular hypertrophy (RVH)
 * Truncal vagotomy

Additional resources

 * ECGpedia: Course for interpretation of ECG
 * The whole ECG - A basic ECG primer
 * 12-lead ECG library
 * Simulation tool to demonstrate and study the relation between the electric activity of the heart and the ECG
 * ECG information from Children's Hospital Heart Center, Seattle
 * ECG Challenge from the ACC D2B Initiative
 * National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Diseases and Conditions Index
 * A history of electrocardiography
 * EKG Interpretations in infants and children