ECG cases is a monthly blog by Jesse McLaren (@ECGcases), a Toronto emergency physician with an interest in emergency cardiology quality improvement and education. Each post features a number of ECGs related to a particular theme or diagnosis (with a focus on acute coronary occlusion), so you can test your interpretation skills. We challenge you with missed or delayed diagnosis, those with false positive diagnosis, and those that had a rapid and correct diagnosis. Cases are followed by a quick summary of the literature that relates to the cases, and we bring it home with practice changing pearls that you can use on your next shift.
ECG Cases 11: LBBB + Occlusion MI
In ECG Cases 11 - LBBB + Occlusion MI Jesse McLaren runs through 5 patients who present with potentially ischemic symptoms and LBBB and explains the evolution of decision making for cath lab activation criteria. The two most important points are that we should always use the Smith-modified Sgarbossa Criteria to identify occlusion MI in the patient with ischemic symptoms and LBBB, whether old or new, and that those with refractory ischemia and hemodynamic instability from suspected occlusion MI require cath lab activation regardless of the ECG....
