Emergencies

Results:
ECG STAT March 1, 2026
Isorhythmic AV Dissociation

Key Points: Isorhythmic AV dissociation is a form of AV dissociation in which the sinus rate and junctional or ventricular escape rate are nearly identical, making the P waves and…

ECG STAT March 1, 2026
Third-Degree AV Block (Complete Heart Block)

Key Points: Third-degree AV block is complete failure of atrial impulses to conduct to the ventricles. The defining ECG feature is AV dissociation with no conducted P waves. The atrial…

ECG STAT March 1, 2026
Second-Degree AV Block Type I (Mobitz I/Wenckebach)

Key Points: Mobitz I is defined by progressive PR prolongation until a single P wave fails to conduct, after which the cycle resets. The block is usually at the AV…

ECG STAT March 1, 2026
Second-Degree AV Block with 2:1 Conduction

Key Points: Second-degree AV block with 2:1 conduction means every other P wave conducts and every other P wave is blocked. A single ECG with 2:1 conduction usually cannot be…

ECG STAT March 1, 2026
Second-Degree AV Block Type II (Mobitz II)

Key Points: Mobitz II is defined by sudden failure of AV conduction after at least 2 consecutive conducted beats with fixed PR intervals and no preceding PR prolongation. The block…

ECG STAT March 1, 2026
Atrial Flutter 2:1 Conduction

Key Points: Atrial flutter is a macro-reentrant atrial tachycardia, most commonly typical cavotricuspid isthmus-dependent right atrial flutter, with an atrial rate usually near 300 bpm. With 2:1 AV conduction, the…

ECG STAT March 1, 2026
Atrial Flutter 1:1 Conduction

Key Points: Rare, high-risk rhythm. Atrial flutter with 1:1 conduction can produce ventricular rates of 240-320 bpm and may rapidly cause hypotension, ischemia, or collapse. Often mimics VT. The QRS…

ECG STAT March 1, 2026
Advanced (High-Grade) AV Block

Key Points: Advanced or high-grade AV block is a severe second-degree AV block with 2 or more consecutive non-conducted P waves, such as 3:1 or 4:1 conduction. Do not force…

ECG STAT February 8, 2026
Preexcitation Syndromes: Overview

Key Points: Pre-excitation means an accessory pathway allows atrial impulses to reach the ventricle without traversing the AV node, producing early ventricular activation. A delta wave is the defining ECG…

ECG STAT February 8, 2026
Wolff-Parkinson White (WPW) Syndrome

Key Points: Pattern vs syndrome: WPW pattern is ECG evidence of pre-excitation without symptoms. WPW syndrome is pattern plus symptomatic tachyarrhythmia (palpitations, syncope, “seizure”, aborted sudden cardiac arrest). PR interval…

ECG STAT February 8, 2026
Short QT Syndrome

Key Points: Short QT Syndrome (SQTS) is a rare condition characterized by a shortened QT interval on the ECG, increasing the risk of atrial and ventricular arrhythmias, including sudden cardiac…

ECG STAT February 8, 2026
WPW Syndrome and Pseudo-MI Patterns

Key Points: WPW alters ventricular depolarization, producing secondary repolarization abnormalities that can mimic or mask myocardial infarction. ST-segment deviation in WPW is often non-ischemic, driven by abnormal activation via the…

ECG STAT February 8, 2026
Atrial Fibrillation with WPW (Pre-excited AF)

Key Points: Pre-excited AF is the most dangerous WPW rhythm. It can deteriorate quickly to VF because the accessory pathway may conduct atrial impulses to the ventricle at extreme rates….

ECG STAT February 8, 2026
WPW with Antidromic SVT (Antidromic AVRT)

Key Points: Antidromic AVRT is an AV re-entrant tachycardia that conducts antegrade down the accessory pathway and returns retrograde through the AV node (or another pathway), producing a regular wide-complex…

ECG STAT February 8, 2026
WPW with Orthodromic SVT (Orthodromic AVRT)

Key Points: Orthodromic AVRT is the most common tachyarrhythmia in WPW and presents as a regular narrow-complex SVT that is indistinguishable from AVNRT during the tachycardia. Mechanism: antegrade conduction down…

Weekly Workout February 2, 2026
Baltimore City EMS ECGs: Pitfalls and Mimics (Part 2)

A 54-year-old man presents to the emergency department by EMS with acute shortness of breath. A prehospital ECG triggers a STEMI alert based on the computer interpretation. The tracing shows…

Weekly Workout January 26, 2026
Baltimore City EMS ECGs: Pitfalls and Mimics (Part 1)

A 68-year-old man is brought to the emergency department by EMS with acute chest discomfort. The following prehospital ECG was obtained and shows concave ST elevation across multiple leads. The…

Weekly Workout January 19, 2026
Three More ECG Pitfalls That Punish Anchoring Bias

A 51-year-old man with lung cancer presents with shortness of breath and tachycardia. The arrival ECG shows an S1Q3 pattern and seems to support a familiar diagnosis that would normally…

ECG STAT January 14, 2026
Bidirectional Ventricular Tachycardia (BiVT)

Key Points: BiVT is a regular wide-complex tachycardia with strict beat-to-beat alternation of QRS axis and/or bundle-branch pattern (often an approximately 180° frontal-plane axis flip). In adults, assume digoxin toxicity…

Weekly Workout January 12, 2026
Four ECG Pitfalls That Punish Anchoring Bias

A 43-year-old woman with sharp left-sided chest pain and minimal cardiac risk factors has an initial ECG that is not diagnostic for STEMI. She looks stable, but one feature on…

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