Question

While differentiating a tremor-induced pseudo-ventricular tachycardia from true ventricular tachycardia cardiologists look for

Answer 1

Step-by-step explanation:

When skeletal muscles undergo tremors, the electrical activity can cause the ECG to develop an irregular baseline. These muscle tremors are known to frequently cause ECG abnormalities that may mimic cardiac pathology, including ventricular tachycardia [3] and atrial flutter [4,5].

Answer 2

Answer:

A 92-year-old woman was admitted to hospital with pneumonia. Her medical history included a percutaneous coronary intervention and subsequent diagnosis of ischemic cardiomyopathy 15 years earlier. While in hospital, epigastric and retrosternal pain associated with nausea developed in the patient. On physical examination, she was anxious and tremulous. Her blood pressure was 145/85 mm Hg, her pulse was regular at 75 beats/min, and she was afebrile. On cardiac auscultation, she had normal first and second heart sounds, a regular rhythm of 75 beats/min and no audible murmur. At first glance, simultaneous bedside analysis of an electrocardiographic (ECG) tracing suggested the presence of a broad QRS complex tachycardia (Figure 1). Because the patient was anxious, the on-call doctor held her left hand during the test. As a consequence, the patient’s left hand was not shaking during the ECG tracing, unlike the right hand. Because lead III showed a normal sinus rhythm and the observed clinical picture did not suggest ventricular tachycardia, a diagnosis of tremor-induced artifact was proposed.