It sounds funny, but heart waves that register on an electrocardiogram are named after a section of the alphabet. Every down-up-down "mountain" you see on your heart machine when you are in the hospital or performing heart tests is a QRS wave-set. Doctors expect to see your QRS wave patterns do very specific things. When these wave patterns do not do specific things, doctors become concerned. There are a few significant diseases that can cause altered QRS rhythm defects.
Wave Duration
The duration of these waves simply means how quickly these waves come, how close together they are on the heart monitor, and how they sound to a doctor. In children, who naturally have faster beating hearts, these waves are all scrunched together, with very little space in between the end of one QRS wave and the start of another. However, as an adult, your QRS waves should be much farther apart, much slower, and have a very steady rhythm.
When they are as rapid as a small child's, you could be in the midst of tachycardia. You should be admitted to a hospital immediately to slow these rhythms and find the cause. You will also be prescribed medication, if the doctor feels that he/she needs to control this situation for your health and welfare.
High QRS Amplitude
The amplitude of a QRS wave is the top, pointy part of your heart wave on the monitor. Your doctors want to see the height of these waves because anything above or below the norm is cause for concern. If it is above the correct height, it could indicate that your heart has at least one ventricle that has thickened and is working overtime to pump blood in the right direction. This is life-threatening. Equally life-threatening is a very short amplitude, which indicates weakness in the heart. These could both indicate that you need surgery to correct the issue before it worsens.
Changes in the Q Part of the Wave
The initial down stroke of each of your heart waves is the Q part of the wave. Increased duration or decreased amplitude is indicative of impending infarction or cardiac arrest. Patients who have already experienced cardiac arrest/infarction and are currently being treated, or those who did not know they were experiencing a cardiac emergency and then it passed by, are at risk of a repeat incident. Both known and unknown incidents that have passed are visible on the heart machines.
For more information reach out to a place like Pure Wave Now.