ECG Mastery Book
Award-winning ECG training in a full-color, hands-on book.
Master the ECG without memorization
What nobody ever tells you about the ECG is that it doesn’t have to be hard to become an expert. ECG Mastery: The Simplest Way to Learn the ECG, based on an award-winning training method, gives you a clear and simple roadmap for approaching any ECG. This book leaves out the jargon and sticks to the information that’s really important. Every chapter includes interesting cases and hands-on exercises that make learning the ECG effective and fun. After working through the steps in this book, you’ll be able to follow a case discussion with your colleagues, recognize many common and dangerous diseases, and start using the ECG in your daily clinical practice.
Table of contents
Level 1: Deconstructing the ECG curve—the components of the tracing
The first step is to understand what you’re seeing when you look at an ECG and how to identify the different waves.
Level 2: Interval (time) and amplitude (voltage) measurements
Learn to measure intervals and amplitudes on the ECG through simple math—no ruler necessary!
Level 3: When the timing is off—the foundations of interval interpretation
To identify abnormalities, you need to know the normal values of the different time intervals, and what it means if they are too long or too short.
Level 4: The precordial leads—what nobody ever tells you
Where do you put the precordial leads and what do they tell you about the heart? This chapter will teach you all you need to know.
Level 5: The chest leads—100% confidence
Learning the ECG works best if you have a thorough understanding of the precordial leads before learning about the limb leads. In this chapter you’ll learn how to recognize abnormal patterns in the chest leads, including bundle branch block.
Level 6: What you really need to know about ventricular hypertrophy
The ECG is an important tool for the identification of ventricular hypertrophy. This chapter shows you what to look for.
Level 7: ST depression and T negativity—a simple approach
ST depression and T-wave negativity are commonly associated with debilitating and potentially life-threatening diseases. Every ECG student should be able to recognize and interpret them.
Level 8: What everybody ought to know about myocardial infarction and the QRS complex
In this essential chapter, you will learn how myocardial infarction affects the appearance of the QRS complex.
Level 9: Inferior wall myocardial infarction—pearls and pitfalls
Recognizing inferior wall myocardial infarction can be tricky. This chapter teaches you what it takes to become great at it.
Level 10: Acute coronary syndromes—mastering the ST segment
Learn about the acute coronary syndromes and how they affect the ST segment. Understanding the ST segment will help you save lives!
Level 11: The ECG trio—cardiac axis, atrial hypertrophy, and low voltage
There’s an easy and fast method for how to determine the cardiac axis. The good news is, it’s much easier than everyone tells you.
Level 12: A short story about electrolytes and heart rate
The ECG can help you detect various kinds of electrolyte disturbances. Some of them are potentially life threatening.
Level 13: Rhythm 101—the sinus rhythm
If you want to be able to diagnose rhythm problems, you’ll first have to learn what constitutes a sinus rhythm.
The authors
Peter Kühn, MD
Internist with a specialization in cardiology. The former head of the cardiology department of the hospital Barmherzige Schwestern in Linz, Austria, he has written several ECG books and has decades of teaching experience.
Clemens Lang
Medical student at the Medical University of Vienna. He loves to teach and is fond of new technologies with a special interest in online teaching platforms and internal medicine.
Franz Wiesbauer, MD MPH
Internist with a specialization in cardiology. His passion is to make medical skills training readily accessible to medical professionals and students around the world. He is the founder of the Medmastery.
