A 51-year-old truck driver presents to the ED after a brief syncopal episode at a rest stop. It is the middle of summer, his truck’s air conditioning is not working,…
A 69-year-old woman presenting with sepsis gets the following ECG for tachycardia while febrile and shivering. The baseline is poor, atrial activity is difficult to identify, and the computer interpretation…
A 72-year-old man undergoes a prehospital 12-lead ECG. The tracing appears to show ST segment elevation in leads III, aVF, and aVR, raising concern for an inferior STEMI or high-risk…
A 34 year old man presents with acute chest pain radiating to the left arm associated with diaphoresis. He has hyperlipidemia and a family history of early coronary disease. The…
A 72-year-old man is brought to the ED after witnessed cardiac arrest. Bystander CPR was started quickly, EMS found a nonshockable rhythm, epinephrine was given, and ROSC was achieved. Forty…
Key Points: The J point is the junction between the end of the QRS complex and the beginning of the ST segment. It is a location, not a separate waveform….
Key Points: The first post-ROSC ECG is essential but imperfect. Obtain it immediately, but interpret it in context. Global ischemia, defibrillation, acidosis, hypothermia, vasopressors, artifact, and severe metabolic derangements can…
Key Points: Persistent ST elevation after ROSC remains a guideline-supported indication for emergency coronary angiography. The 2025 ACC/AHA/ACEP/NAEMSP/SCAI ACS guideline recommends emergency angiography for patients after cardiac arrest with suspected…
Key Points: Stable post-arrest patients without ST elevation should not go to reflex immediate cath solely because cardiac arrest occurred. Randomized trials in OHCA patients without ST elevation have not…
Key Points: Pediatric arrest is usually respiratory, hypoxic, or shock-related, not primary coronary occlusion. The ECG still matters because it can reveal reversible metabolic, toxicologic, structural, inflammatory, or inherited electrical…
A 72-year-old man is brought to the ED after a witnessed out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Bystander CPR is started quickly, EMS finds a non-shockable rhythm, and ROSC is achieved after one…
Key Points: ECG STAT is designed for point-of-care review, but ECG mastery requires repeated exposure, active interpretation, feedback, assessment, and clinical correlation. Use the ECG Skills curriculum tracks as your…
Key Points: Online ECG resources are best used for repeated case exposure, quick review, and pattern reinforcement. They should complement, not replace, a structured ECG curriculum. ECG STAT is designed…
Key Points: Definition: Sinoatrial, or SA, exit block occurs when the sinus node generates an impulse that fails to conduct into the surrounding atrial tissue. The blocked impulse produces no…
Key Points: Normal cardiac conduction begins in the SA node, travels through the atria to the AV node, then enters the His-Purkinje system to activate both ventricles rapidly and synchronously….
A 44-year-old man with severe cardiomyopathy, an LVAD, chronic amiodarone therapy, and an AICD presents with palpitations. His ECG shows a regular wide-complex tachycardia, but the rate is only 135….
Key Points: A QRS duration greater than 120 ms reflects delayed or abnormal ventricular depolarization. A wide QRS may be chronic and benign in context, or it may be the…
A 71-year-old man presents with shortness of breath, and his ECG is initially read as a junctional rhythm. On later review, it is even mistaken for atrial fibrillation. But the…
Key Points: Any wide QRS (>90 ms) in an infant or small child is abnormal and should trigger evaluation for VT, sodium-channel blockade, or conduction disease. QTc >450 ms in…
Key Points: Pediatric ECGs are not scaled-down adult ECGs. Right axis deviation, large R waves in V1, and T wave inversions in V1 to V3 are expected in healthy children….