When you go in for a heart checkup, the technician will place electrodes on your chest to measure the electric activity of your heart. This is done with an electrocardiogram or ECG. One of the things that the technician is looking for on the ECG is premature ventricular contractions or PVCs.
What does a PVC look like on an ECG? It appears as a distinct, abnormal spike on the tracing. The peak of the PVC is higher and sharper than a normal heartbeat. It may also appear early in the heartbeat cycle, before the expected QRS complex.
Sometimes, an individual may have just one or two PVCs within a regular ECG reading. However, if multiple PVCs occur frequently, it can indicate an underlying heart condition such as cardiomyopathy or coronary artery disease.
If your ECG shows frequent PVCs, discussing this with your doctor and exploring potential treatment options to protect your heart health is essential.
We hope this information has been useful to you.
