A member asked:

If my heart enzymes, ekg, and chest x-ray are all good, can i rule out any major heart issue? 21, active. slightly overweight, but only by a few lbs.

5 doctors weighed in across 3 answers

Typically: While these tests can be helpful in an acute setting, they are not good for telling you about your risk of cardiac disease. Typically we are looking at lipid/cholesterol ratios, HS-CRP and what happens when stressed (like the above tests DURING exercise). Heart disease is less common in younger people without significant risk factors including SMOKING and family history.

Answered 8/4/2014

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Dr. Silviu Pasniciuc answered

Specializes in Internal Medicine

Yes and no: If the question is about trying to understand if you are having palpitations, a Holter monitor might help. Alternatively, if the question is about chest pain, even though coronary artery disease is less likely given your age, a stress test might be considered. The best test to look for valvular abnormalities will be a 2D-echo heart. Talk to your doc about a possible Cardiology consult.

Answered 8/4/2014

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Dr. Matt Wachsman answered

Specializes in Internal Medicine

Pretty much: Italy successfully lowered the incidence of sudden cardiac death in children by an EKG screen. The rate dropped BELOW 1 in a million. THere are some rare congenital abnormalities (that would be found with ekg all by itself). Downside... 1% of children had some abnormality that had to be looked at and nearly zero of the kids actually had anything actually wrong.

Answered 8/4/2014

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