← A Decade of ECG Gems: Counting Down the Top 10 Cases
Workout Quiz
5 questions. Answers are graded instantly with expert explanations.
1. A patient’s ECG initially shows peaked T-waves consistent with mild hyperkalemia. Within minutes, the QRS broadens, and the rhythm degenerates into a sine wave pattern and then asystole. Which of the following best describes the clinical lesson from this scenario?
Hyperkalemia progresses slowly, allowing ample time for intervention.
Mild hyperkalemia rarely affects the QRS complex.
Hyperkalemia can escalate from mild abnormalities to fatal arrhythmias in minutes.
Hyperkalemia only causes peaked T-waves and is not life-threatening.
2. Inverted U-waves in the precordial leads, in the context of chest pain, have been linked to which of the following conditions?
A benign normal variant
Impending anterior wall myocardial infarction
Stable angina with no risk of infarction
Pericarditis
3. A patient presents with chest pain and an ECG that shows marked PR depression. The physician suspects pericarditis. However, careful use of the TP segment as a baseline reveals ST depression instead of the expected ST elevation. Which of the following is the correct interpretation?
The patient likely has acute pericarditis.
The patient likely has acute coronary syndrome (ACS), not pericarditis.
PR depression is always diagnostic of pericarditis.
Relying on the PR segment as baseline is more accurate than using the TP segment.
4. An ECG is interpreted by the computer as atrial fibrillation. On closer inspection, you note a “grouped beating” pattern and that the rhythm is regularly irregular rather than irregularly irregular. Which underlying rhythm problem might this actually be?
True atrial fibrillation
Atrial flutter with variable conduction
Mobitz I (Wenckebach) AV block
Sinus tachycardia with WPW
5. You are preparing to cardiovert a patient with a wide complex tachycardia. Before pressing the shock button, you notice the sync markers (triangles) are lining up with the T-waves instead of the QRS complexes. What is the most appropriate next step?
Deliver the shock immediately.
Increase the energy setting and shock.
Confirm the leads and ensure the defibrillator syncs on the QRS, not the T-wave.
Administer amiodarone before shocking.
Answer 5 more questions
