Remove Cardiogenic Shock Remove Ischemia Remove Tachycardia
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A 53 yo woman with cardiogenic shock. Believe me, this is not what you think.

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

A previously healthy 53 yo woman was transferred to a receiving hospital in cardiogenic shock. Here was the ECG: There is sinus tachycardia. Our chief of cardiology, Gautam Shroff, interprets it differently and thinks this is indeed ischemia. This was sent by a reader. and K was normal. This is "Shark Fin" morphology.

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Tachycardia must make you doubt an ACS or STEMI diagnosis; put it all in clinical context

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

He was rushed by residents into our critical care room with a diagnosis of STEMI, and they handed me this ECG: There is sinus tachycardia with ST elevation in II, III, and aVF, as well as V4-V6. ACS and STEMI generally do not cause tachycardia unless there is cardiogenic shock. He had this ECG recorded.

STEMI 52
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Why the sudden shock after a few days of malaise?

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

Sinus tachycardia has many potential causes. This is especially true for the elderly patient with sinus tachycardia. What is the cause of the sudden tachycardia? The VSR is what is causing the cardiogenic shock! She had a very elevated troponin T at 12,335 ng/L at the time of presentation.

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Diffuse Subendocardial Ischemia on the ECG. Left main? 3-vessel disease? No!

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

DISCUSSION: The 12-lead EKG EMS initially obtained for this patient showed severe ischemia, with profound "infero-lateral" ST depression and reciprocal ST elevation in lead aVR. The ECG cannot diagnose the etiology of ischemia; it only the presence of ischemia, from whatever etiology.

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Critical Left Main

EMS 12-Lead

It should be known that each category can easily manifest the generic subendocardial ischemia pattern. In general, subendocardial ischemia is a consequence of global supply-demand mismatch that usually ameliorates upon addressing, and mitigating, the underlying cause. What’s interesting is that the ECG can only detect ischemia.

Angina 52
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90 year old with acute chest and epigastric pain, and diffuse ST depression with reciprocal STE in aVR: activate the cath lab?

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

His response: “subendocardial ischemia. Smith : It should be noted that, in subendocardial ischemia, in contrast to OMI, absence of wall motion abnormality is common. With the history of Afib, CTA abdomen was ordered to r/o mesenteric ischemia vs ischemic colitis vs small bowel obstruction. Anything more on history?

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See what happens when a left main thrombus evolves from subtotal occlusion to total occlusion.

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

The first task when assessing a wide complex QRS for ischemia is to identify the end of the QRS. The ST segment changes are compatible with severe subendocardial ischemia which can be caused by type I MI from ACS or potentially from type II MI (non-obstructive coronary artery disease with supply/demand mismatch). What do you think?