Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

NOVEMBER 15, 2023

Angiogram No obstructive epicardial coronary artery disease Cannot exclude non-ACS causes of troponin elevation including coronary vasospasm, stress cardiomyopathy, microvascular disease, etc. CORONARY ARTERIES: Exam was not directly tailored for coronary artery evaluation, noting recent diagnostic coronary angiogram.

Coronary 108

Coronary E-9-1-1 STEMI ACS 108

The Skeptics' Guide to EM

NOVEMBER 25, 2023

A 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) demonstrates ST elevations in leads II, III, and aVF with ST depressions in leads I and aVL and the team begins transport to the nearest percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) capable hospital. Background: We have covered the issue of heart attacks several times on the SGEM. Reference: Stopyra et al.

Heart Attack 273

Heart Attack STEMI Emergency Medical Services Coronary 273

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

OCTOBER 15, 2024

Additionally, his cardiac telemetry monitor showed runs of accelerated idioventricular rhythm, a benign arrhythmia often associated with coronary reperfusion. The patient is a 75-year old man with known coronary disease, including prior LAD and LCx OMI. That this patient has severe underlying coronary disease is indisputable.

OR 114

OR STEMI ED Coronary 114

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

MAY 13, 2024

Dr. Smith and other authors showed the utility of Speckle Tracking Strain Echo in this case report: Diagnosis of acute coronary occlusion in patients with non–STEMI by point-of-care echocardiography with speckle tracking Repeat ECG: Slightly less hyperacute T waves, likely indicating improving flow compared to the first ECG.

OR 116

OR STEMI Heart Attack Coronary 116

The Skeptics' Guide to EM

JULY 2, 2022

Major adverse cardiac event rates in moderate-risk patients: Does prior coronary disease matter? Major adverse cardiac event rates in moderate-risk patients: Does prior coronary disease matter? He has no history of coronary artery disease. Date: June 30th, 2022 Reference: McGinnis et al. AEM June 2022. AEM June 2022.

Coronary 100

Coronary Heart Attack ACS CAD 100

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

DECEMBER 5, 2023

Acute coronary syndrome in a pediatric patient? Ultimately, cardiac cath was done — revealing patent coronary arteries. Written by Kirsten Morrissey, MD with edits by Bracey, Grauer, Meyers, and Smith An older teen was transferred from an outside hospital with elevated serum troponin and and ECG demonstrating ST elevations.

Coronary 120

Coronary CAD ACS ALS 120

Emergency Medicine Cases

DECEMBER 20, 2023

ST/T changes: consider the differential including demand ischemia, associated electrolyte abnormalities, Brugada pattern from sodium channel blockade, and acute coronary occlusion vs vasospasm from cocaine. The post ECG Cases 47 – ECG Interpretation in Toxicology appeared first on Emergency Medicine Cases.

Coronary 212

Coronary OR Overdose EMS 212

Core EM

JULY 23, 2024

Isolated posterior MI is less common (3-8% of OMI) and presents with isolated ST-depressions in the anterior precordial leads (V1-V4), representing reciprocal changes to posterior left ventricular wall myocardial infarction as a result of distal occlusion of either the left circumflex or right coronary artery.

STEMI 173

STEMI Coronary Emergency Department OR 173

Core EM

JANUARY 25, 2024

Risk factors that increase the likelihood of VT include history of previous myocardial infarction, known coronary artery disease, and structural heart disease. The differential diagnosis for this patient includes Ventricular Tachycardia (VT) and Supraventricular Tachycardia (SVT) with aberrancy. Sources [link] [link] [link] [link].

Coronary 246

Coronary Emergency Department ED OR 246

ACEP Now

DECEMBER 6, 2024

A 45-year-old male with a history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, amphetamine and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) use, and coronary vasospasm presented to triage with chest pain. During assessment, the patient reported that a left heart catheterization six months prior indicated spasms but no coronary artery disease.

Coronary 52

Coronary Life Support ALS Emergency Department 52

First 10 EM

DECEMBER 25, 2023

Throughout the length of my career, we have consistently heard that less is more when it comes to blood transfusions (outside of the critically ill requiring massive transfusion, where the message, correct or not, has been the exact opposite).

OR 112

OR Coronary EMS 112

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

OCTOBER 1, 2023

This patient in today's case was a man in his 60s with a known history of coronary disease, including prior stents. But in a patient with known coronary disease — who presents with new symptoms and the above ECG changes — any amount of Troponin elevation has to be taken as indicative of an acute event until proven otherwise.

OR 131

OR STEMI Coronary CAD 131

REBEL EM

SEPTEMBER 21, 2023

What Your Gut Says: The patient has a tachydysrhythmia which may be the presentation of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) even though the patient has no ischemic symptoms. Essentially, we are using the troponin assay to find patients with ACO who may be benefited by coronary interventions or risk factor modification.

Coronary 143

Coronary ACS ED OR 143

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

SEPTEMBER 22, 2023

This is diagnostic of full reperfusion.] An old ECG was found: As you can see, this patient has zero baseline STE, and normal T-waves. You never know if a patient's baseline has normal large STE or complete absence of STE, or somewhere in between. 90% of normals have some STE in V2 and V3. I focus my comment on this initial ECG in today's case.

OR 131

OR STEMI Coronary 131

ACEP Now

JULY 7, 2023

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation Of patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest presenting to the ED in refractory VF, a majority have significant coronary artery disease, much of which is amenable to percutaneous coronary intervention. Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is a commonly encountered entity in U.S.

Defibrillator 98

Defibrillator OR ALS Epinephrine 98

The Skeptics' Guide to EM

OCTOBER 20, 2018

The acute coronary syndrome work-up is negative but she is Well’s high and needs a CTPA to rule-out a pulmonary embolism. Lauren is currently funded by an NHLBI K12 grant (1K12HL138049-01) studying the implementation of evidence-based diagnosis of pulmonary embolism in the emergency department. Case: A 64-year-old woman with type-2 diabetes.

Coronary 174

Coronary Emergency Department ALS OR 174

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

JUNE 5, 2024

Why Was Cardiac Cath Negative for Coronary Disease? As noted by Dr. Nossen — this patient qualified as MINOCA ( M yocardial I nfarction with N on- O bstructive C oronary A rteries ) — since troponin was positive on his 2nd admission, yet there was no evidence of obstructive coronary disease on cath.

Coronary 115

Coronary ACS ALS OR 115

The Skeptics' Guide to EM

SEPTEMBER 28, 2024

The patient has no specific risk factors for acute coronary syndrome (ACS) or dissection. Case: You are working a busy shift in a rural emergency department (ED) and your excellent Family Medicine trainee presents a case of a 63-year-old woman with chest pain and some intermittent radiation into the inter-scapular region.

Emergency Department 196

Emergency Department ACS Coronary ALS 196

EMS 12-Lead

JULY 24, 2023

Category 1 : Sudden narrowing of a coronary artery due to ACS (plaque rupture with thrombosis and/or downstream showering of platelet-fibrin aggregates. It’s judicious, then, to arrange for coronary angiogram. Supply-demand mismatch (non-occlusive coronary disease, or exacerbation of preexisting flow insufficiency) a.

Coronary 130

Coronary ACS CAD ED 130

Core EM

FEBRUARY 23, 2024

Isolated posterior MI is less common (3-8% of OMI) and presents with isolated ST-depressions in the anterior precordial leads (V1-V4), representing reciprocal changes to posterior left ventricular wall myocardial infarction as a result of distal occlusion of either the left circumflex or right coronary artery.

STEMI 130

STEMI Coronary Emergency Department OR 130

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

JULY 25, 2024

But cardiac arrest is a period of near zero flow in the coronary arteries and causes SEVERE ischemia. Smith's ECG Blog ( See My Comment in the March 1, 2023 post) — DSI does not indicate acute coronary occlusion! It also does not uniformly indicate severe coronary disease. The ECG shows severe ischemia, possibly posterior OMI.

Defibrillator 119

Defibrillator Coronary Epinephrine ACS 119

The Skeptics' Guide to EM

JANUARY 18, 2020

Date: January 16th, 2020 Reference: Troponin Testing and Coronary Syndrome in Geriatric Patients With Nonspecific Complaints: Are We Overtesting? Date: January 16th, 2020 Reference: Troponin Testing and Coronary Syndrome in Geriatric Patients With Nonspecific Complaints: Are We Overtesting?

ACS 130

ACS Coronary Emergency Department OR 130

EMS 12-Lead

SEPTEMBER 6, 2022

Coronary thrombosis is a dynamic process of platelet aggregation and subsequent coagulation. During spontaneous reperfusion -- whether via thrombolysis, or recruitment of collateral circulation -- there exists characteristic ST/T changes on the ECG. Case Review: [link]

Coronary 130

Coronary OR 130

REBEL EM

JUNE 1, 2023

Indication for emergency invasive coronary angiography or had coronary angiography within 1 hour of arrival. Known obstructive coronary artery disease or known coronary stent. Design: Prospective, observational, before and after implementation of a protocol study. Known cardiac defibrillator. Pre-existing DNR order.

Coronary 145

Coronary Defibrillator CPR ALS 145

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

AUGUST 6, 2023

Doing so allows you to put YOURSELF to the TEST ( keeping in mind that all ECGs shown are from patients with chest pain suggestive of potential acute coronary disease ). Smith shows a new ECG. So — FREEZE the picture of each ECG on the screen — FORCE yourself to commit to an answer.

OR 97

OR STEMI Coronary 97

EMDocs

NOVEMBER 6, 2023

Author: Brit Long, MD (@long_brit) // Reviewed by Alex Koyfman, MD (@EMHighAK) The American Heart Association 2023 Guideline for managing cardiac arrest or life-threatening toxicity due to poisoning was recently released. This post will focus on the key parts of the guideline that affect ED evaluation and management. Top 10 Take Home Pearls 1.

Naloxone 94

Naloxone OR Overdose BLS 94

REBEL EM

SEPTEMBER 14, 2023

Control: 53.4% D ECLS: 18.2% Control 8.7% Control 38.0% Majority of patients had PCI performed (96.6%) Impella CP was most common mechanical circulatory support in patients without ECLS (85.7%) Death From Any Cause at 30d ECLS: 47.8% Control: 49.0% RR 0.98; 95% CI 0.80 to 1.19; p = 0.81 vs 13.9% (RR 0.58; 95% CI 0.33 vs 22.6% (RR 1.03; 95% CI 0.88

Life Support 136

Life Support Coronary CPR ICU 136

The Skeptics' Guide to EM

SEPTEMBER 11, 2021

Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is responsible for the majority (60%) of all OHCAs in patients. Emergency coronary angiography is reasonable for select (eg, electrically or hemodynamically unstable) adult patients who are comatose after OHCA of suspected cardiac origin but without ST elevation on ECG (Class IIa, LOE B-NR).

EMR 130

EMR Coronary Defibrillator Life Support 130

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

NOVEMBER 29, 2023

This new ECG was still interpreted as STEMI and the patient was taken to the cath lab where the angiogram showed completely normal coronary arteries throughout. Smith : this ECG is definitely not OMI, but could be mistaken for Swirl pattern, which is a septal OMI with STE in V1 and STD in V6. Unfortunately no echo was available.

OR 124

OR STEMI EMS ED 124

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

APRIL 18, 2024

The ECG is just a test: a Bayesian approach to acute coronary occlusion If a patient with a recent femur fracture has sudden onset of pleuritic chest pain, shortness of breath, and hemoptysis, the D-dimer doesn’t matter: the patient’s pre-test likelihood for PE is so high that they need a CT. But does this matter?

STEMI 124

STEMI Coronary ALS CAD 124

EMS 12-Lead

APRIL 21, 2022

There is appreciable STE aVR with near-global STD that appropriately maximizes in Leads II and V5, and thus suggesting a circumstance of generic, diffusely populated, circumferential subendocardial ischemia versus occlusive coronary thrombus. [1] It’s judicious, then, to arrange for coronary angiogram. Does the ECG normalize?

Coronary 130

Coronary ALS OR ACS 130

Emergency Medicine Cases

SEPTEMBER 15, 2020

Which had an acute coronary occlusion? Signs of occlusion MI in patients with LVH include: new Q waves/loss of R waves, disproportionate and dynamic ST elevation (or ST depression from posterior MI), and hyperacute T waves. In this ECG Cases blog we look at 6 patients who presented with potentially ischemic symptoms and LVH on their ECG.

STEMI 130

STEMI Coronary OR EMS 130

EMS 12-Lead

SEPTEMBER 5, 2022

Another spurious finding is a QS pattern that mimics Anterior MI, and in the acute setting this may elicit compulsory urge to pursue invasive coronary intervention that is entirely unwarranted. Tom Bouthillet demonstrates appropriate electrode application when capturing the pre-hospital 12 Lead ECG: [link]

Coronary 130

Coronary OR 130

The Skeptics' Guide to EM

OCTOBER 22, 2017

Studies have shown that oxygen can cause vasoconstriction, increase blood pressure and decrease coronary artery blood flow ( Kones et al AM J Med 2011). In the prehospital, ED, and hospital settings, the withholding of supplementary oxygen therapy in normoxic patients with suspected or confirmed acute coronary syndrome may be considered.

Emergency Medical Services 130

Emergency Medical Services Coronary ALS STEMI 130

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

OCTOBER 20, 2024

The ST segment changes are compatible with severe subendocardial ischemia which can be caused by type I MI from ACS or potentially from type II MI (non-obstructive coronary artery disease with supply/demand mismatch). This patient is actively dying from a left main coronary artery OMI and cardiac arrest from VT/VF or PEA is imminent!

Coronary 132

Coronary ACS Emergency Department Defibrillator 132

EMS 12-Lead

MAY 20, 2022

Additional architectural changes include systolic anterior motion of the mitral valve, endothelial dysfunction at the level of the coronary arterial bed, and ventricular diastolic dysfunction. This worried the crew of potential acute coronary syndrome and STEMI was activated pre-hospital. It is spread to V2 and V3.

Coronary 130

Coronary STEMI Firefighter ED 130

Dr. Smith's ECG Blog

JANUARY 25, 2024

A 40-something with severe diabetes on dialysis and with known coronary disease presented with acute crushing chest pain. As per Dr. Smith — today's patient is a 40-something year old patient with severe diabetes, renal failure and known coronary disease — who presents with “acute crushing CP”. Here is his ED ECG: What do you think?

Coronary 80

Coronary ED OR 80