Quiz ECG 017

Scenario

A 72 year old man presents by ambulance to your ED with onset of tachycardia and shortness of breath.

Question

Describe and interpret his ECG(100%)

Quiz ECG 017 2006 01 08 01

Answer

FACEM VAQ Exam 2006.1 – Question 8

  • Overall pass rate for this question was 25/40 (62.5%).
  • The ECG given shows a regular, narrow complex tachycardia with widespread ischaemic changes
  • The examiners noted that with the limited clinical information given and the number of ECG abnormalities present a reasonably broad range of possibilities need to be considered in the interpretation.
  • The description needed to note the tachycardia which was atrial in origin and associated with significant ischaemic changes.
  • The interpretation should have noted that this was likely to be a clinical situation requiring urgent treatment or referral.
  • Failures were due to basic errors of description (often including findings that were not present) or due to providing very limited differentials.

ACEM Fellowship Visual Aid Questions

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About Mike Cadogan

Emergency physician with a passion for medical informatics and medical education. I write medical textbooks, websites such as HealthEngine and write more eclectically on the web as @sandnsurf | + Mike Cadogan | Contact