“Do you have breast implants?” The question may soon become a routine for cardiologists who are about to do have an electrocardiogram to a patient. Indeed, according to a study carried out by Dr Sok-Sithikun Bun of the Princess Grace Hospital in Monaco and presented at the congress of the European Society of Cardiology, breast implants are likely to distort the results of the ECG.
A falsified electrocardiogram in one in two patients
For this study, 28 women with breast implants and 20 control women of the same age without breast implants had an EKG test. All of these women were healthy and showed no signs of heart disease.
Each ECG was analyzed by two electrophysiologists who had no details about the patients. When they studied the group’s EKGs with breast implants, one said 38% were abnormal, while the other reported 57% were abnormal. However, both found no signs of heart failure in the patients in the group without implants. They concluded that the abnormal ECG recordings were due to the implants.
Silicone implants would invert the T wave. However, the inversion of the T wave is a non-specific sign but which may indicate the presence of a coronary disease. Dr. Bun advises patients to let doctors know that they have breast implants before having an ECG. “And if in doubt as to the diagnosis, additional blood tests should be done based on symptoms.”.
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