Is torsades a ventricular arrhythmia?

Torsades de Pointes is a specific type of ventricular tachycardia, or fast heart rhythm that begins in your heart ventricles. You can get it if you inherited Long QT syndrome or if you take certain medicines. Although Torsades de Pointes can be deadly if untreated, treatment greatly improves your outlook.

Is ventricular fibrillation the same as torsades?

Torsade de pointes, often referred to as torsade, is associated with a prolonged QT interval, which may be congenital or acquired. Torsade usually terminates spontaneously but frequently recurs and may degenerate into ventricular fibrillation. Torsade de pointes.

Is torsades de pointes VT or VF?

Frequent PVCs with ‘R on T’ phenomenon trigger a run of polymorphic VT which subsequently begins degenerates into VF. QT interval is difficult to see because of artefact but appears slightly prolonged (QTc ~480ms), making this likely to be TdP.

What causes torsades de pointes rhythm?

Common causes for torsades de pointes include drug-induced QT prolongation and less often diarrhea, low serum magnesium, and low serum potassium or congenital long QT syndrome. It can be seen in malnourished individuals and chronic alcoholics, due to a deficiency in potassium and/or magnesium.

Is torsades regular or irregular?

Torsades de pointes is a specific form of polymorphic ventricular tachycardia in patients with a long QT interval. It is characterized by rapid, irregular QRS complexes, which appear to be twisting around the electrocardiogram (ECG) baseline.

Do you defib torsades?

Pulseless torsades should be defibrillated. Intravenous magnesium is the first-line pharmacologic therapy in Torsades de Pointes.

What is torsades ventricular tachycardia?

Do you give amiodarone for torsades?

Torsades de pointes is caused by a prolonged QT. Almost all of the antiarrhythmics that we normally use to treat ventricular tachycardia, such as amiodarone and procainamide, will prolong the QT further, and therefore can make your patient worse. Do not give amiodarone or procainamide.

What’s another name for torsades de pointes?

When the heart beats faster than usual, as in a case of torsades de pointes, it is called tachycardia. Torsades de pointes is French for “twisting of points” and refers to when the heart’s two lower chambers or ventricles, beat faster than the upper chambers, which are known as the atria.

How do you identify torsades de pointes in ECG?

The ECG reveals a prolonged QTc interval in the sinus beats, a short-long-short cycle initiating the torsades de pointes, twisting of QRS complexes around the isoelectric baseline, a rate of 210 beats/min, and the polymorphic nature of the arrhythmia.

How do you identify torsades de pointes on an ECG?

Do you defibrillate torsades with a pulse?

Treat the ventricular tachycardia Torsades de pointes is a ventricular tachycardia. In the unstable patient, cardiovert. In the pulseless, defibrillate. (The polymorphic nature of the rhythm may interfere with the defibrillator’s ability to synchronize, so cardioversion may not be possible.