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Ventricular fibrillation (V-fib or VF) is an abnormal heart rhythm in which the ventricles of the heart quiver. [2] It is due to disorganized electrical activity. [2] Ventricular fibrillation results in cardiac arrest with loss of consciousness and no pulse. [1] This is followed by sudden cardiac death in the absence of treatment. [2]
Ventricular tachycardia (V-tach or VT) is a cardiovascular disorder in which fast heart rate occurs in the ventricles of the heart. [3] Although a few seconds of VT may not result in permanent problems, longer periods are dangerous; and multiple episodes over a short period of time are referred to as an electrical storm.
Having V-tach is really dangerous and can develop into another dangerous rhythm Ventricular fibrillation, both of these require immediate medical attention. VT is treated with cardioversion, either drug cardioversion or electrical cardioversion. Drug cardioversion involves a drug treatment that aims to lower the heart rate back to a normal rhythm.
Defibrillation is a treatment for life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias, specifically ventricular fibrillation (V-Fib) and non-perfusing ventricular tachycardia (V-Tach). [1] [2] A defibrillator delivers a dose of electric current (often called a counter-shock) to the heart.
12-lead ECG of ventricular fibrillation. Primary ventricular fibrillation (PVF) is an unpredictable [1] and potentially fatal arrhythmia occurring during the acute phase of a myocardial infarction leading to immediate collapse and, if left untreated, leads to sudden cardiac death within minutes.
It is usually a regular, wide complex tachycardia with a rate between 120 and 250 beats per minute. A medically significant subvariant of ventricular tachycardia is called torsades de pointes (literally meaning "twisting of the points", due to its appearance on an EKG), which tends to result from a long QT interval. [18]
[22] [23] A Holter monitor is an EKG recorded over a 24-hour period, to detect arrhythmias that may happen briefly and unpredictably throughout the day. [ citation needed ] A more advanced study of the heart's electrical activity can be performed to assess the source of the aberrant heart beats.
However, if a patient is confirmed to be in pulseless ventricular tachycardia "v-tach" or ventricular fibrillation "v-fib", then a shock is delivered immediately upon connection of the pads. In this application, electrical cardioversion is more properly termed defibrillation.