Serious disturbance in cardiac rhythm, characterized by disorganized impulse conduction and ventricular contraction. Unconsciousness occurs and death may follow within minutes if defibrillation and other life-saving measures are not immediately provided.
Rapid but ineffective movements of the ventricles of the heart that replace coordinated contractions, resulting in grossly diminished cardiac output.
Grossly abnormal heartbeat, sometimes described as a quivering motion, that causes death if not treated immediately. Usually caused by a serious abnormality in the electrical impulse system that governs the heart’s cycle of activity. When this condition is present, electrical impulses in the upper chambers of the heart occur continuously, throw off the heart’s regular rhythm, and cause a very fast pulse rate, palpitations, feelings of fainting, nausea, weakness, and fatigue. Treatment: Drug therapy to slow down the beat. Cardioversion, a procedure that shocks the heart back into a regular rhythm, may also be used.
Rapid, weak, uncontrolled quivering of the ventricles (the lower chambers of the heart), reducing the amount of blood the heart pumps. Ventricular fibrillation is a medical emergency requiring immediate medical treatment. If a normal heartbeat cannot be reestablished within a few minutes, death will result. Defibrillation, the administration of an electric shock to the heart, is given to reestablish a normal rhythm.
A disorderly and irregular generation of electrical impulses originating from the ventricles, the lower chambers of the heart. Instead of contracting rhythmically, the ventricles undergo uncontrolled quivering, impeding the circulation of blood throughout the body. Ventricular fibrillation constitutes a critical medical situation necessitating immediate intervention with cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and defibrillation.
One of the two perilous cardiac arrhythmias that manifest during cardiac arrest. The heart experiences swift, disorganized, and ineffectual contractions, resulting in an inability to pump blood. This issue arises from irregular heartbeats triggered by abnormal electrical activity within the ventricles, which are the lower chambers of the heart.
The diagnosis is affirmed through an electrocardiogram (ECG). Urgent intervention involves defibrillation (delivering an electric shock to the heart) and the administration of antiarrhythmic medications.