The Dirty Epi Drip: IV Epinephrine When You Need It
You’re a recent graduate picking up an extra shift in a small ED somewhere north of here. At 3 AM an obese 47 year-old woman presents with shortness of breath and difficulty speaking after eating a Snickers bar an hour earlier. She admits to history of hypertension, peanut allergy, and a prior intubation for a similar presentation. She is becoming more obtunded in the resuscitation room as you are collecting your history. A glance at the monitor shows:
- HR 130
- BP 68/40
- O2 saturation 89% on room air
A patient comes into your department with an obvious shoulder dislocation. You know you can easily reduce the shoulder and have the patient discharged before the orthopedic consultant calls back. But what if there is a fracture? Do you need to get that plain film before popping it back into place?
Torsades de pointes is a polymorphic form of ventricular tachycardia. Why does this occur? What does it characteristically look like? Why is this an important form of ventricular tachycardia to differentiate from the more classic monomorphic ventricular tachycardia? View this short 9 minute video on QT intervals and Torsades de Pointes.
Wellen’s Syndrome was first described in 1982 in which 75% of patients with t wave inversions in V2-V4 went on to have an acute myocardial infarction (MI). This was again repeated in 1989, and showed that all patients with this morphology had >50% LAD stenosis. The incidence in the United States is about 10-15%.