Abnormalities of heart can be detected more acurately by ausculation than by heart electrocardiography. Why ?

Answer 1

What, does anybody do their own homework anymore? I just answered this same exact question a couple days ago by somebody else!

To answer your question, valve problems are better picked up by auscultation than electrocardiography (which detects electrical events) . Consider mitral valve prolapse (MVP) as an example.

The principal physical finding on cardiac auscultation is the midsystolic click, a high-pitched sound of short duration. The midsystolic click may be soft or loud, and varies in its timing according to left ventricular (LV) loading and contractility. It is caused by the sudden tensing of the mitral valve apparatus as the leaflets billow into the left atrium during systole. Multiple systolic clicks may be generated by different portions of the mitral leaflets prolapsing at different times during systole. The midsystolic click is frequently followed by a late systolic murmur, usually medium to high pitched and loudest at the apex. The character and intensity of the murmur also vary, from brief and almost inaudible to holosystolic and loud.

The electrocardiogram is often normal in patients with MVP. The most common abnormality is the presence of ST-T wave depression or T-wave inversion in the inferior leads (II, III and aVF). MVP is associated with an increased incidence of false-positive results on exercise electrocardiography, with ST-T wave depression occurring in patients, especially women, with normal coronary arteries.

So basically, auscultation is more reliable than electrocardiograph for a quick detection of valve problems.

Answer 2

Your proposal is wrong. Often auscultation or listening to the internal sounds of the body, using a stethoscope. Sure your going to find the problem in the heart first that way but then your going to use more advance techniques to diagnose the problem.

In fact in most adults auscultation does not prove a very good assay of heart function at all. This is mainly because of the thickness of the chest wall.

Ultrasound is however a sound based techquie which uses sound to diagnose heart disfuntion and is better then a ECG. This is because the we can see the follow parterns of liquid in the heart directly and doesn't need to infer function based on a complex wave form.

Answer 3

I don't know this answer for certain, but I'm pretty sure the answer is that EKG can only see electrical defects, like conduction velocity, arrhythmia etc.. while auscultation can hear things going wrong with valves etc...