My 9 yr old ds went for his yearly cardiology appt a few days ago to check for any signs of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, as I have this condition.
Even though the doctor said his ecg and echo are fine with regards to showing any signs of HCM, he did mention that his ecg showed that the q wave was not normal. He made this comment after I asked if he was showing any manifestations of the disease. He went on to show me his ecgs over a period of 8 years and explained that the q wave has decreased in size over time. Is this significant? Last years report(not got the latest yet) he wrote that ds has non pathological q waves in a number of leads. (I can find out which leads if it's significant).I read the word 'non pathological' and thought well I don't have to worry about that, little did I know q waves are connected to HCM. With the q waves being smaller this year I'm presuming it's still non-pathological but then again why did doc say he wouldn't expect this ecg in a child??? I'm annoyed that every year whenever I've asked about manifestations I've always been told that so far nothing is showing even though prominent q waves were evident from 2001.
I had a defib check today and I asked the technician about q waves and she explained that children have a range of q wave measurements and it might well be within the norm, but surely if that was the case the doc wouldn't have described it as being not normal.
When I got home I googled about the significance of q waves, and came across that in some cases it is the first sign of hcm before any signs of structural disease on the echo. Could abnormal q waves be a sign of anything else? TBH the way I feel at mo anything is better that HCM.
I'm very worried, the doc doesn't want to see him for another year which is reassuring to some degree, but ds has aspergers and in appt ds said he doesn't tire more compared to others but he's been saying otherwise to me and has complained about it, I've not paid too much attention to his tiredness on exertion because OT said he had low muscle tone which means he has to work that extra harder - I know I'm rambling but I'm keen to get all the info out) In between next appt I'm fretting that he will be one of the tragic cases of sudden death. I know this can happen without any structural defects.
Just how significant is this q wave? Am I worrying far too much? Please if anyone knows anything about this I would very much appreciate your comments, good or bad. I just need some info. I know I should just contact the doc gain but I don't feel its what I want to do right now.
I'm not even allowing ds to go to school tomorrow because I don't want him to leave my side. Are abnormal q waves on ecg always a sign of a heart defect?