What is meant by ST-depression in ECG and what does it indicate about the condition of heart?

Answer 1

you can have st depression by a number of things like hypothermia, electrolyte imbalance, or digitalis effect and some other things that may cause st depression you can look up. on the other hand as far as cardiac related in heart attacks or should I say chest pain, on a ekg it could indicate cardiac muscle ischemia. A st segment less than 1mm some say, also some say 2 mm below the base line depends who talking, and of course associated with chest pain shortness of breath excessive sweating may or may not radiate to arms back or jaw depending on the person. when st segment depression is transient it is almost always due to acute myocardial infarction ekg sighs can come and go quickly sometimes a matter if minutes. St depression is most specific for ischemia st elevation for infarct, if the st segment slopes down from the j point or inverted t waves this is quite suspicious of ischemia. hope this helps..............JAM paramedic