Critical care transthoracic echocardiography: Atrial sinus rhythm during ventricular fibrillation

Peter Mark Schulman, Jill M. Gelow, Matthias J. Merkel, James O. Mudd, Kevin Wei, Michael P. Hutchens

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

A 70-year-old man with end-stage heart failure and a continuous-flow left ventricular assist device received repeated electrical discharges from his biventricular implantable cardiac defibrillator. Although the electrocardiogram demonstrated ventricular fibrillation, the patient was awake and in no distress. A focused transthoracic echocardiogram was performed to assess ventricular function revealing simultaneous atrial sinus rhythm and ventricular fibrillation. This clinical scenario highlights a unique clinical finding, the complexity of the care of continuous-flow left ventricular assist device patients, and the challenges of intensivist-performed bedside focused transthoracic echocardiogram.

Original languageEnglish (US)
JournalJournal of Investigative Medicine High Impact Case Reports
Volume2
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 13 2014

Keywords

  • Intensivist
  • LVAD
  • Sinus rhythm
  • TTE
  • Ventricular fibrillation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Epidemiology
  • Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality
  • Safety Research

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