Ventricular fibrillation differential diagnosis

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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Syed Hassan A. Kazmi BSc, MD [2] Sahar Memar Montazerin, M.D.[3]

Overview

Ventricular fibrillation should be differentiated from other conditions manifesting with a sudden loss of consciousness as well as different cardiac arrhythmias.

Differentiating Ventricular Fibrillation From Other Diseases

Ventricular fibrillation should be differentiated from other conditions causing sudden cardiac death including:

Ventricular fibrillation should also be differentiated from other cardiac arrhythmias that may have similar ECG findings, including:

Ventricular fibrillation should be differentiated from other forms of cardiac arrhythmia including:

Table below compare different characteristics of cardiac arrhythmias:

Arrhythmia Rhythm Rate P wave PR Interval QRS Complex Response to Maneuvers Epidemiology Co-existing Conditions
Atrial Fibrillation (AFib)[1][2]
  • Irregularly irregular
  • Absent
  • Fibrillatory waves
  • Absent
  • Less than 0.12 seconds, consistent, and normal in morphology in the absence of aberrant conduction
  • 2.7–6.1 million people in the United States have AFib
  • 2% of people younger than age 65 have AFib, while about 9% of people aged 65 years or older have AFib
Atrial Flutter[3]
  • Regular or Irregular
  • 75 (4:1 block), 100 (3:1 block) and 150 (2:1 block) beats per minute (bpm), but 150 is more common
  • Sawtooth pattern of P waves at 250 to 350 bpm
  • Biphasic deflection in V1
  • Varies depending upon the magnitude of the block, but is short
  • Less than 0.12 seconds, consistent, and normal in morphology
  • Conduction may vary in response to drugs and maneuvers dropping the rate from 150 to 100 or to 75 bpm
Atrioventricular nodal reentry tachycardia (AVNRT)[4][5][6][7]
  • Regular
  • 140-280 bpm
  • Slow-Fast AVNRT:
    • Pseudo-S wave in leads II, III, and AVF
    • Pseudo-R' in lead V1.
  • Fast-Slow AVNRT
  • Slow-Slow AVNRT
  • Inverted, superimposed on or buried within the QRS complex (pseudo R prime in V1/pseudo S wave in inferior leads)
  • Absent (P wave can appear after the QRS complex and before the T wave, and in atypical AVNRT, the P wave can appear just before the QRS complex)
  • Less than 0.12 seconds, consistent, and normal in morphology in the absence of aberrant conduction
  • QRS alternans may be present
Multifocal Atrial Tachycardia[8][9]
  • Irregular
  • Atrial rate is > 100 beats per minute
  • Varying morphology from at least three different foci
  • Absence of one dominant atrial pacemaker, can be mistaken for atrial fibrillation if the P waves are of low amplitude
  • Less than 0.12 seconds, consistent, and normal in morphology
Paroxysmal Supraventricular Tachycardia
  • Regular
  • 150 and 240 bpm
  • Absent
  • Hidden in QRS
  • Absent
  • Narrow complexes (< 0.12 s)
Premature Atrial Contractrions (PAC)[10][11]
  • Regular except when disturbed by premature beat(s)
  • 80-120 bpm
  • Upright
  • > 0.12 second
  • May be shorter than that in normal sinus rhythm (NSR) if the origin of PAC is located closer to the AV node
  • Ashman’s Phenomenon:
  • Usually narrow (< 0.12 s)
Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome[12][13]
  • Regular
  • Atrial rate is nearly 300 bpm and ventricular rate is at 150 bpm
  • Less than 0.12 seconds
  • A delta wave and evidence of ventricular pre-excitation if there is conduction to the ventricle via ante-grade conduction down an accessory pathway
  • A delta wave and pre-excitation may not be present because bypass tracts do not conduct ante-grade.
Ventricular Fibrillation (VF)[14][15][16]
  • Irregular
  • 150 to 500 bpm
  • Absent
  • Absent
  • Absent (R on T phenomenon in the setting of ischemia)
Ventricular Tachycardia[17][18]
  • Regular
  • > 100 bpm (150-200 bpm common)
  • Absent

  • Absent
  • Initial R wave in V1, initial r > 40 ms in V1/V2, notched S in V1, initial R in aVR, lead II R wave peak time ≥50 ms, no RS in V1-V6, and atrioventricular dissociation
  • Wide complex, QRS duration > 120 milliseconds
  • 5-10% of patients presenting with AMI

The table below provides information on the differential diagnosis of ventricular fibrillation in terms of ECG appearance:

Disease Name Causes ECG Characteristics ECG view
Ventricular tachycardia [19][20][21][22][23]
[24]
Ventricular fibrillation [17][25][26][27]
[28]
Ventricular flutter [29][30][31]
[32]
Asystole [33][34]
  • There is no electrical activity in the asystole
[35]
Pulseless electrical activity [36][37]
[38]
Torsade de Pointes [39][40][41]
  1. Paroxysms of VT with irregular RR intervals.
  2. A ventricular rate between 200 and 250 beats per minute.
  3. Two or more cycles of QRS complexes with alternating polarity.
  4. Changing amplitude of the QRS complexes in each cycle in a sinusoidal fashion.
  5. Prolongation of the QT interval.
  6. Is often initiated by a PVC with a long coupling interval, R on T phenomenon.
  7. There are usually 5 to 20 complexes in each cycle.
[42]

References

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