Country cardiograms: Case 1 Jim Thompson, MD, CCFP(EM), FCFP
Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Family Medicine, The University of Calgary, Calgary, Alta.
Can J Rural Med 1996; 1 (1): 19
A 45-year-old woman presented to a rural hospital emergency department on a Sunday morning complaining of chest heaviness and dizziness, which had been present since the day before. For the previous week she had been experiencing considerable family stress, headache, sore throat and sinus pressure. The patient was very anxious on examination and her voice was hoarse, but otherwise there were no abnormal findings. The emergency department nurse obtained an electrocardiogram before the on-call physician arrived to examine the patient.
What is your diagnosis, and how would you manage this patient in your rural setting?
See the answer and discussion.
"Country cardiograms" is a regular feature of the Canadian Journal of Rural Medicine. In each issue we will present an electrocardiogram and discuss the case in a rural contxSubmit cases to Dr. Jim Thompson, Canadian Journal of Rural Medicine, Bag 5, Sundre AB T0M 1X0 (email: jthompso@agt.net).