U wave, one of the most forgotten wave in ecg. It’s often submerged beneath pqrst wave analysis even by experts.
Let’s have a glance on this small hump.Given below as points….
The most common theories for the origin are:
- Delayed repolarization of purkinje fibres
- Prolonged re-polarisation of mid-myocardial M-cells
- After-potentials resulting from mechanical forces in the ventricular wall
- The repolarization of the papillary muscles
- U wave if present is negative in avR and rarely in lead 3 and avf
- It’s rare to find a u wave in lead 1,avL and avR
- U wave amplitude increase with most of the inotropic agents and bradycardia
- Inversion of u wave in exercise testing is a good idea to diagnose LAD stenosis
- Prominent U waves are seen in hypokalemia and hypercalcemia
- U wave alternans seen in Lvf and Romano ward syndrome.
Now a qn…how to make out T- U fusion versus a notched T wave?This is not uncommon.
See the comments section for the answer
That’s all folks for the day ..
Good day!
Answer: use leads where u is absent usually like lead 1,avl,avr.Another clue is notch of T-U fusion is located at a lower level <0.2mV while opposite is true often the case of a T wave notch
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