Complex Care Exam 2 Practice

The main idea is how pericarditis shows up on ECG compared with a heart attack. When the pericardium is inflamed after an infarct, the injury current affects the heart surface more globally, so ST-segment elevations appear across many leads rather than confined to a single area. This diffuse, global ST elevation is a hallmark of acute pericarditis and is often accompanied by PR-segment depression, helping distinguish it from an infarct. In contrast, an acute MI typically produces ST elevations that are localized to leads over the affected coronary artery territory. QRS changes without ST elevation don’t reflect the injury pattern of pericarditis, and isolated T-wave inversions usually occur later after the initial ST changes. So global ST elevation best fits pericarditis after MI.