See this post for a wide complex that hides ischemic findings.
See this post for a difficult diagnosis in the context of a wide complex.
Case
Here is a patient who had a cardiac arrest. Only approximately 25% of our atraumatic cardiopulmonary arrest patients have a STEMI (40% of v fib arrests) so the diagnosis of STEMI by the ECG is critical for the reperfusion decision. Here is the ECG:
These PVC findings confirm the diagnosis of inferior wall STEMI in this otherwise difficult ECG.
The patient had an RCA occlusion.
See this post for a difficult diagnosis in the context of a wide complex.
Case
Here is a patient who had a cardiac arrest. Only approximately 25% of our atraumatic cardiopulmonary arrest patients have a STEMI (40% of v fib arrests) so the diagnosis of STEMI by the ECG is critical for the reperfusion decision. Here is the ECG:
 |
| The rhythm is atrial fibrillation. The QRS complex is wide, with a right bundle branch block but only subtle ST elevation in III and aVF, with very subtle reciprocal depression in lead aVL. The second complex in the ECG is a PVC, and is seen in leads I, II, and III. In leads II and III, in which the QRS of the PVC is predominantly negative (S-wave), there is marked discordant (opposite to QRS) ST elevation in leads II and III (inferior), far out of proportion to the preceding S-wave. I believe (without proof) that appropriate discordance in a PVC should be similar to LBBB, in which the average ST/S ratio is 0.10, and excessive due to STEMI is greater than 0.20. In lead I there is a positive QRS (R-wave) and reciprocal depression that is similarly discordant to the QRS and out of proportion. |
The patient had an RCA occlusion.
what are some of the causes in the other 75% of arrests?
ReplyDeleteOur study was of all arrests who survived to admission. We looked to see how many had STEMI/occlusion, but we did not classify the etiology of all the others. Many had ischemia that resolved and did not need immediate cath, then there is primary arrhythmia due to mostly to cardiomyopathy (but also to such disorders as long QT or Brugada), drug toxicity, drug overdose, and respiratory etiologies.
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