Medical Record Activities • CHAPTER 5 205Reading
Practice pronunciation of medical terms by reading the following medical report aloud.
Myocardial Infarction
A 70-year-old white woman presented to the hospital for evaluation of a syncopal episode. She states that most recently
she has experienced generalized malaise, increased shortness of breath while at rest, and dyspnea followed by periods
of apnea and syncope.
Her past history includes recurrent episodes of thyroiditis, which led her to have a thyroidectomy 6 years ago while
she was under the care of Dr. Knopp. At the time of surgery, the results of her ECG were interpreted as sinus tachy-
cardia with nonspecific ST segment–T wave changes. The tachycardia was attributed to preoperative anxiety and thy-
roiditis. Postoperatively, under the direction of Dr. Knopp, the patient was treated with a daily dose of 50 mg of
desiccated thyroid and has been symptom free until this admission.
On clinical examination, the patient’s radial pulse was found to be irregular, and the ECG showed uncontrolled atrial
fibrillation with evidence of a recent myocardial infarction.
Evaluation
Review the medical record to answer the following questions. Use a medical dictionary such as Taber’s Cyclopedic
Medical Dictionary and other resources if needed.
- What symptoms did the patient experience before admission to the hospital?
- What was found during clinical examination?
- What is the danger of atrial fibrillation?
Term DefinitionST segment–T wavesyncope
SĬN-kō-pētachycardia
tăk-ē-KĂR-dē-ăVisit the Medical Terminology Simplifiedonline resource center at DavisPlus to hear
pronunciation and meanings of the selected terms in this medical report listed in
the table above.