Life Savers
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Dysrhythmias in LVAD Patients
Key Points: Continuous-flow LVADs can mask cardiovascular collapse. Patients may remain awake during sustained VT or even VF because the pump can provide temporary flow. Treat the rhythm and the…
Pediatric ECG Red Flags
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…
Unstable Bradyarrhythmias
Key Points: Unstable bradyarrhythmias cause poor perfusion which can rapidly progress to shock, irreversible organ injury, or cardiac arrest. Priority: Do not treat the heart rate alone. Treat clinical instability….
Severe Hypothermia
Key Points: Severe hypothermia causes predictable ECG slowing and conduction delay. Sinus bradycardia, PR/QRS/QT prolongation, and atrial fibrillation with a slow ventricular response are common as core temperature falls. Osborn…
Computer Interpreted “Normal” ECGs
Key Points: Do not trust a computer read of “normal” without your own review. Computer interpretation is especially unreliable for subtle or early ischemia, including hyperacute T waves, minimal ST…
Torsade de Pointes (TdP)
Key Points: Definition: Torsade de pointes is a specific subtype of polymorphic ventricular tachycardia that occurs in the setting of QT prolongation. ECG pattern: TdP shows beat-to-beat variation in QRS…
ST Elevation in aVR with Diffuse ST Segment Depression: OMI Pattern
Key Points: Pattern, not a STEMI equivalent. ST elevation in aVR (≥1 mm), often with ST elevation in V1 and diffuse ST depression (≥1 mm in ≥6 leads), represents high-risk…
Hyperkalemia Emergencies
Key Points: Severe Hyperkalemia Mimics Several Life-Threatening Conditions: Severe hyperkalemia is one of the most dangerous ECG mimics in emergency medicine. It can resemble unstable bradyarrhythmias, VT, STEMI, and pacemaker…
Polymorphic Ventricular Tachycardia (PMVT)
Key Points: Definition: Polymorphic ventricular tachycardia is VT with beat-to-beat variation in QRS morphology, axis, and amplitude. Clinical significance: PMVT is electrically unstable and can rapidly deteriorate into ventricular fibrillation…
Nonsustained Ventricular Tachycardia (NSVT)
Key Points: Definition: Nonsustained ventricular tachycardia is 3 or more consecutive ventricular beats lasting less than 30 seconds and terminating spontaneously. Rate: VT is usually faster than 120 bpm, but…
STEMI vs Wide QRS (BBBs & Paced Rhythms): DDx
Key Points: Wide QRS rhythms distort repolarization. Bundle branch block and ventricular pacing create secondary ST-T changes even without occlusion MI. Appropriate discordance is expected. ST segments and T waves…
South African Flag Sign: OMI Pattern
Key Points: Pattern: The South African Flag sign is the combination of ST elevation in I, aVL, and V2 with reciprocal ST depression in III. It is a subtle but…
Occlusion MI in Ventricular Paced Rhythms: STEMI Equivalent Pattern
Key Points: Ventricular paced rhythms can mask acute coronary occlusion. Pacing alters depolarization and produces expected secondary ST-T abnormalities, so standard STEMI criteria are unreliable. Appropriate discordance is expected in…
The Life Savers: Critical ECGs Hub
Key Points: Life Savers are the can’t-miss ECGs. These patterns may reflect immediately life-threatening ischemic, electrical, mechanical, obstructive, toxicologic, or metabolic emergencies. This hub is built for rapid action. Use…
Electrical Alternans
Key Points: Electrical alternans is a beat-to-beat alternation in QRS amplitude, axis, or both. It is classically associated with a large pericardial effusion and may support concern for tamponade, but…
STEMI vs LVH: DDx
Key Points: Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) with strain is one of the most common and dangerous STEMI mimics, particularly in the anterior leads, and is a frequent cause of false-positive…
Pericardial Tamponade
Key Points: Pericardial tamponade is a hemodynamic diagnosis, not just an ECG diagnosis. ECG may show sinus tachycardia, low-voltage QRS, and sometimes electrical alternans, but none are sensitive enough to…
Modified Sgarbossa Criteria: STEMI Equivalent Pattern
Key Points: LBBB and ventricular-paced rhythms can hide acute coronary occlusion because abnormal depolarization creates expected secondary ST-T changes. Occlusion MI can still be recognized when those ST changes are…
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…
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…
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