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Medical records-help! Femoral Pulses 2+/4 = B (with a circle around it)?
I'm looking through my son's medical records. He has an extensive medical history. 2 open heart surgeries, ECMO (bypass, kinda) for a week and a half following one hour of rigorous rescucitation, etc. (There's a lot more.) I am trying to figure out what his medical records say from before he was misdiagnosed. There is a section on the "Well child exam" from his 1 month checkup that has the Physical Exam. It states Femoral pulses (I know what that means) but what does the 2+/4 mean? Is that good? Bad? Okay? Also, next to his lungs it says "CTA B (with a circle around it) c (with?) and then something illegible. Looks like gouing, but I can't figure it out. If she wrote CTA next to the lungs portion, that means that they should have done a closer exam of his lungs, right? I'm confused, and don't know if I should consult a lawyer or not. I appreciate any and all insight anyone can offer. Thank you so much. BTW-I have met some other parents online with the same diagnosis, and the vast majority were diagnosed at or before birth. He has a very severe, rare heart defect that wasn't caught until he was 2 months old. He had 6x the normal amount of blood in his lungs because of his heart and he didn't have his first surgery until he was almost 4 months old. Do you think that by having surgery earlier, it would have prevented his lungs from getting so diseased, thus preventing many complications? Thank you again.
Public Comments
- Hi. I'm a pharmacy student, so I'm still learning some of this stuff, but I'll tell you the little bit I've learned so far. CTA is often used to mean "clear to auscultation". Auscultation means listening to sounds with a stethoscope. "Clear to auscultation" is generally a good thing. I don't know what the B could mean. But a "c" with a line over it is often used to mean "with". Pluses 2+ is also good. Pulses are rated from 0 - 4+. 0 means cannot be felt, 1+ is definitely felt, but diminished, 4+ is abnormally strong. 2+ and 3+ are normal. Normal gets two numbers just in case there is a slight difference in one area versus another (but both are still considered within normal range). I don't know what the /4 means. Is it possible the pulse was checked in 4 different places (or times) and all four were 2+? I'm sorry that your son has had such medical troubles. I know it's very worrisome, but I hope this info helps. Please bear in mind that I'm only a student, so there may be information that I'm missing that would change what I've told you here. But as far as I know, the notes on your son's chart don't appear to be too bad! I recommend that you find a decent medical dictionary at your local library or bookstore. Best of luck to you and your son.
