Resting ECG measures the electrical activity of the heart using adhesive skin electrodes placed on specific points. It is used to determine heart health and diagnose problems. Exercise ECG is used to determine how much work a patient’s heart can handle.
The electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG) is a test that measures the electrical activity of the heart, and a resting ECG is given when the patient is at rest. It involves non-invasive recording with adhesive skin electrodes placed on specially prepared points on the skin and plotting the heart’s activity on a graph. It is used to determine the health of the heart and circulatory system and to help diagnose problems with associated body systems.
To take the resting ECG, the electrocardiograph technician places up to 12 adhesive electrodes on the skin at specific points, mainly on the left side of the chest but also on the wrists and ankles. Typically, these electrodes are self-adhesive or applied with a conductive adhesive gel. The spots used are typically shaved, cleaned with an abrasive cream, or both to reduce interference or impedance between the skin and the electrodes. Once the patient has been prepped and the skin electrodes have been placed, the test takes less than a minute and is completely painless and non-invasive.
The patient’s resting ECG is interesting because the technician and clinicians involved can see what their patient’s “default” natural electrical heart activity is. The ECG itself is made up of lines drawn on a graph showing time intervals. At ideally regular intervals, the lines peak and then dip below the line’s starting point, or baseline, into a trough. The peaks and valleys can also occur backwards.
The size and regularity or irregularity of these lines communicate the nature of the patient’s heart activity. A person’s resting ECG can show signs of a recent heart attack, lack of oxygen to the heart, coronary ischemia, the effects of some medications, and some genetic defects. You will likely be asked for a resting ECG if you experience seizures, difficulty breathing, or fainting; if the patient has observed an unusual heart rhythm; or to determine if he has had a recent heart attack or other cardiac event.
The resting ECG isn’t the only test that uses the basic EKG setup. If there is damage from coronary artery disease, doctors might order an exercise ECG, in which the electrodes are placed normally, but the patient exercises on a treadmill or stationary bike during the test. This is also referred to as cardiac stress testing and can be used to determine how much work a given patient’s heart can handle by recording the reaction of the heart and systems associated with strenuous physical exertion.
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