Remove Cardiac Arrest Remove Embolism Remove Ultrasound
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A man in his 30s with cardiac arrest and STE on the post-ROSC ECG

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

The morphology of V2-V4 is very specific in my experience for acute right heart strain (which has many potential etiologies, but none more common and important in EM than acute pulmonary embolism). He had multiple cardiac arrests with ROSC regained each time. CT angiogram showed extensive saddle pulmonary embolism.

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Torsade in a patient with left bundle branch block: is there a long QT? (And: Left Bundle Pacing).

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

Bedside cardiac ultrasound showed moderately decreased LV function. CT of the chest showed no pulmonary embolism but bibasilar infiltrates. See this post: How a pause can cause cardiac arrest 2. She was intubated. The plan: 1. Place temporary pacemaker 3. Discontinue amiodarone, since it prolongs the QT 4.

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EM Quick Hits 33 Polytrauma Tips & Tricks, Toxic Megacolon, ECG in PE, Patch Calls, CT Before LP, Nebulized Ketamine

ECG Cases

The post EM Quick Hits 33 Polytrauma Tips & Tricks, Toxic Megacolon, ECG in PE, Patch Calls, CT Before LP, Nebulized Ketamine appeared first on Emergency Medicine Cases.

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Extreme shock and cardiac arrest in COVID patient

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

A bedside cardiac ultrasound was normal, with no effusion. Clinically — despite an initial 2-fold increased troponin, the normal bedside Echo was reassuring against OMI or pulmonary embolism. He had the following EKG recorded: Low voltage, suggests effusion. see Ken's discussion of low voltage below) There is a QS-wave in V2.

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Syncope, Shock, AV block, Large RV, "Anterior" ST Elevation.

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

A bedside cardiac ultrasound was recorded: Here is a still image of the echo: The red arrows outline the right ventricle and the yellow arrows outline the left ventricle chamber. It makes pulmonary embolism (PE) very likely. Second: what does the ultrasound tell us about the condition? He was in profound shock.

STEMI 40
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Two patients with chest pain and RBBB: do either have occlusion MI?

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

Smith comment: before reading anything else, this case screamed pulmonary embolism to me. I would do bedside ultrasound to look at the RV, look for B lines as a cause of hypoxia (which would support OMI, and argue against PE), and if any doubt persists, a rapid CT pulmonary angiogram.

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1 hour of CPR, then ECMO circulation, then successful defibrillation.

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

I suspect this is Type 2 MI due to prolonged severe hypotension from cardiac arrest. The ways to tell for certain include intravascular ultrasound (to look for extra-luminal plaque with rupture) or "optical coherence tomography," something I am entirely unfamiliar with. pulmonary embolism, sepsis, etc.), myocarditis).