Arrhythmia Part I
Part 1: Introduction to Arrhythmia
Summary
Key Points
- Recognition, diagnosis, interpretation and treatment of arrhythmias represents an important task and competence for every intensivist.
- Mechanisms, stepwise recognition, and therapeutic management of arrhythmias, relevant to the intensive care environment will be reviewed.
- Management of arrhythmias, updated with new anti-arrhythmic drugs and novel techniques such as radiofrequency catheter ablation, with consideration of the circumstances in which the intensivist might consider such options and consultation to cardiology.
- Sections on pacemaker, implantable cardioverter defibrillator and cardiac resynchronisation therapies.
- Specifics and potential problems encountered during the potential, escalating treatment of such patients in ICU.
- Note: The prevalence of sustained arrhythmias in general ICU patients is 12%. Ventricular arrhythmias increase the risk of death and of neurological sequelae.
- Note: Appropriate and timely referral for specialist opinion may be life saving.
- Intensive care physicians need to be thoroughly familiar with the diagnosis, appropriate investigation and treatment of patients with cardiac rhythm disturbances. They also need to be aware of the indications for specialist intervention that a cardiologist and/or cardiac surgeon might have to offer. Useful reviews are found below.
General Information
Enrolled trainees 2853
Open 13.01.2020
Available for ESICM members
Student effort 1
Last Updated April 13, 2022
Intended Learning Outcomes
After studying this module on Introduction to Arrhythmia, you should be able to:
- Articulate a structured approach to EKG assessment
- Describe normal electrical conduction pathways through the heart and the resulting EKG tracings
- Contrast abnormal cardiac electrical activity with normal activity, and explain how this abnormal activity results in clinically relevant arrhythmias
Relevant competencies in CoBaTrICE
- 2.4 Performs electrocardiography and interprets the results
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