Although it is temporary, pulseless ventricular tachycardia does threaten your life. It is basically a very fast heart rate for a brief amount of time and if you do not receive prompt treatment for it, you can die. If you are at risk, it is a good idea to be aware of what this condition involves in addition to the potential causes, so you can do your best to avoid it from happening and conserve your life.
What Is Pulseless Ventricular Tachycardia?
As mentioned, pulseless ventricular tachycardia is deadly. This heart emergency situation will result in death unless it is treated prompt. Tachycardia is a quick heart rate of more than 100 beats in a minute. The word, ventricular, is a rapid heart rate that is started electrically by the ventricles or lower chambers in the heart, which remains in comparison to the common control center within the atria. The last term, pulseless, refers to the lack of a pulse, which indicates the normal quantity of blood that is ejected during each heart beat is absent. This happens due to the fact that the ventricles pump incredibly rapidly and this rate does not match that of the atria. When you combine these terms, you comprehend that in pulseless ventricular tachycardia, your heart’s huge ventricles briefly pump extremely rapidly however without the wanted effect.
This condition is a temporary due to the fact that it is impossible for it to keep going and for somebody to be alive at the exact same time. Although the heart continues to move, it does not in fact beat, causing an absence of oxygenated blood flow. The result is that the heart, along with other organs and tissues, will not get enough oxygen-rich blood. If you have low oxygen concentrations, known as hypoxia, there will be tissue and cellular death in a matter of minutes. An individual with pulseless ventricular tachycardia will develop ventricular fibrillation, which is what takes place when the heart quivers. On an EKG machine this turns to the asystole or straight line that you see.
What Causes Pulseless Ventricular Tachycardia?
There are numerous possible medical conditions that can provide an individual an increased risk of establishing pulseless ventricular tachycardia. A significant factor is a previous heart disease, triggering tissue death by the electrical conduction pathways of the heart. Specialists believe that sustained pulseless ventricular tachycardia is often preceded by self-limited, brief runs that are six beats or fewer on a minimum of one occasion.
Hypoxia and hypokalemia might likewise cause the development of pulseless ventricular tachycardia. Hypoxia is when there is low oxygen and can result in damage of the heart electrical functioning at higher levels. Hypokalemia describes low serum potassium levels, causing irritable ventricles.
How to Treat Pulseless Ventricular Tachycardia
Here are 3 great methods to assist you handle pulseless ventricular tachycardia. Continue reading and know how to save your life when things are at stake.
1. Cardiac Arrest Algorithm
When dealing with pulseless ventricular tachycardia, you should use the left branch of the conventional cardiac arrest algorithm. This branch includes cycles of CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) and shocks. Using this algorithm is the best method of restoring spontaneous flow. When you use this approach, you have to constantly make certain to use premium CPR till the patient gets the defibrillator. You likewise need to reduce any disturbances in the chest compressions and objective to use the defibrillator rapidly. A manual defibrillator is perfect rather than an AED (automated external defibrillator). That is due to the fact that using an AED might result in long term disruptions to the chest compressions for administering the shock and examining the rhythm. The algorithm does not use stated shocks and there are 5 cycles of CPR in between each shock.
2. Defibrillation
Most of defibrillators you will find today are biphasic. This means that they include the electrical current, beginning in one paddle before relocating to the other and then returning. This type of shock requires a smaller quantity of energy to restore the regular rhythm of the heart. Experts likewise believe it minimizes cellular damage of the heart along with skin burns. Using a biphasic defibrillator for pulseless ventricular tachycardia will require a shock dosage of between 120 and 200 Joules. Therefore, you should start on the low end and enhance the dose in actions if needed. Bear in mind that stunning should be revealed to make sure everyone’s safety with statement like “I will shock on three, so everyone should be clear prior to 3.”
3. Medication
One type of medication used to treat pulseless ventricular tachycardia is a vasopressor, which produces vasoconstriction and increases high blood pressure. The effective active ingredients in vasopressors are vasopressin and epinephrine. Each of these is used since of their vasoconstrictive impacts which aid with CPR by enhancing blood flow to a person’s heart and brain. There are antiarrhythmic drugs such as magnesium, lidocaine and amiodarone that can be used as part of the algorithm for pulseless arrest as well.
