Electromechanical Association: Spurious VT

Report:

Sinus tachycardia.

Incomplete RBBB.

Movement artefact.

Comment:

The movement artefact occurs at the same rate as the pulse. The patient had a forceful precordial impulse, which visibly moved the lead attachment. I could not reproduce the original tracing from the top strip exactly, as it would have involved sticking multiple “buttons” on the patient’s chest. Why did I bother? I wanted it for this Library.

This is one of the differential diagnoses of “broad-complex tachycardia”! Precordial movement artefacts are invariably less marked on 12-lead ECGs, due to better filtering, but can be striking nevertheless.

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