Key result
Review outlines VT definitions, wide-complex ECG features, underlying substrates, and management considerations.
Why the study?
Accurate diagnosis of VT is important to allow prompt referral to specialist services, but distinguishing between VT and supraventricular arrhythmias on ECG can be difficult in the acute setting.
This review summarizes the definition, ECG diagnostic features, underlying substrates, and management considerations for ventricular tachycardia.
Aids ECG differentiation of wide-complex tachycardia in practice; leaves open prospective validation of substrate-specific strategies.
Ventricular tachycardia (VT) describes rapid heart rhythms originating from the ventricles. Accurate diagnosis of VT is important to allow prompt referral to specialist services for ongoing management. The diagnosis of VT is usually made based on electrocardiographic data, most commonly 12-lead echocardiography (ECG), as well as supportive cardiac telemetric monitoring. Distinguishing between VT and supraventricular arrhythmias on ECG can be difficult. However, the VT diagnosis frequently needs to be made rapidly in the acute setting. In this review, we discuss the definition of VT, review features of wide-complex tachycardia (WCT) on ECG that might be helpful in diagnosing VT, discuss the different substrates in which VT can occur and offer brief comments on management considerations for patients found to have VT.
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Whitaker et al. (2023) conducted a review in Ventricular tachycardia. This review outlines the definition of ventricular tachycardia, features of wide-complex tachycardia on ECG for diagnosis, underlying substrates, and management considerations.
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