My friend has received readings from a doctor that indicate she has a
low voltage ekg.  She wants to know what this means.  Is this an
indication of something bad?  Her doctors seem to think so.

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Request for Question Clarification by rebeccam-ga on 18 Jul 2002 18:35 PDT

Hello puckman, and thanks again for asking on behalf of your friend...

As far as I found, a low voltage EKG does not say much by itself. 
Combined with other symptoms/tests, it can indicate any number of
conditions.  Did her doctor mention any other symptoms s/he was
concerned about, or order any tests in addition to the EKG?  Does she
have any other conditions that might narrow the search?

In light of your other question about the left ventricular
pseudoaneurysm, did her doctor make any link between the two?  Did
s/he menion the low voltage before finding/discussing the
pseudoaneurysm?  I'd guess that the two are related, and am wondering
if her doctor gave you reason to believe that might be the case.

(Apologies for bombarding you with questions... they're all along the
same lines.)

Best,
Rebeccam-ga

Hello,
I am in no way a doctor, nor a cardiologist, but much of the following
research and quotes are from a cardiologist with whom I am
interviewed.

http://my.webmd.com/encyclopedia/article/1675.55566
This is an excellent resource about what you are asking,  may help you
to further understand Electrocardiography.
“The heart is a muscular pump made up of four chambers. The two upper
chambers are called atria, and the two lower chambers are called
ventricles. A natural electrical system causes the heart muscle to
contract and pump blood through the heart to the lungs and the rest of
the body. Electrocardiography (EKG, ECG) is a test that records the
electrical activity in the heart.

The electrical activity of the heart can be detected through the skin
by small metal discs called electrodes. During electrocardiography,
the electrodes are attached to the skin on the chest, arms, and legs.
The electrodes are also connected to a machine that translates the
electrical activity into line tracings on paper. These tracings are
often analyzed by the machine and then carefully reviewed by a doctor
for abnormalities”

Everything in medicine has a differential diagnosis, and a low voltage
EKG means that the heart is distant from the recording Electrodes. 
Well, now you will ask, "why is the heart distant", there are several
reasons the heart could be distant.  It could be air, Asthma, in a
Cigarette smoker it could be Emphysema, or Pericardia, or a person
with a blown thyroid who is not generating much voltage from their
heart.  This person could have suffered from past heart problems,
several heart attacks.   "There are absolute criteria to diagnosis of
low voltage, and not many know what they really are, if the doctor who
read the EKG, than good, if it was a computer readout, maybe I’d
believe it, if the reader of the EKG was an intern, or a family
doctor, I would give less credence to it"
There is also one more condition, which is a possibility that would
lead to a Low Voltage EKG, this is being overweight, a significant
amount of body weight, anything that places extra stress on the lungs,
or etc. can cause an escape of air from the lungs, what is called
pneumothorax, virtually could be identified with a Low Voltage EKG.

Low Voltage EKG-
"What it really means is that the EKG is a measurement of the hearts
electricity, their are various things that could affect it, and these
are things that could affect voltage. The normal voltage generated by
the heart has been reduced, so the machine only sees lower voltage.
This is a "reasonable differential diagnosis", I hope it was was
helpful to you and your friend.
Ask Josh
(Hopes to beocme a researcher!)

I doubt that many cardiologists would be willing to provide a "virtual
diagnosis" on a bulletin board, having seen neither the patient nor
the case notes.  I certainly do not think it is appropriate for
researchers and commenters to attempt such an exercise.

Pardon me,
It was not meant to be a virtual diagnosis, and as quoted from my
previous post, it was a reasonable differential diagnosis.  The doctor
saw no case notes, he simply explained what a low voltage EKG meant,
how it could be bad, and situations it would and could be involved in.
 I feel that my post was informative, but in no way should supplement
a professionals diagnosis.

askjosh-ga,

It was mainly sentences such as "I'd guess that the two are related"
that raised my concern. Someone who is not a specialist in this field
is not qualified to guess either way, and specially not to broadcast
such guesses on a public forum.