ECG Cases 36 – PACER Mnemonic for Approach to Pacemaker Patients

In this month's ECG Cases blog Dr. McLaren explains the PACER mnemonic approach to patients with pacemakers: Pacemaker spike: is it appropriately presence/absent, is there pacemaker-mediated tachycardia (apply magnet) or is there failure to pace (apply magnet to stop sensing, cardio consult)? Aware (sensing): is it normal, is there oversensing (underpacing: apply magnet) or undersensing (treat reversible causes, cardio consult). Capture: if there are pacemaker spikes is there capture, or failure to capture (treat reversible causes, cardio consult). ECG 12 lead: are there signs of hyperkalemia (extra wide QRS, peaked T) or Occlusion MI (Modified Sgarbossa Criteria) that need immediate treatment. Rest of patient: is there a complication of pacemaker insertion related to the pocket (hematoma, infection), lead (pneumothorax, DVT), or heart (pericardial perforation), or is there an emergency unrelated to the pacemaker (eg dehydration, sepsis, GI bleed)...

ECG Cases 25: ‘Late STEMI’ – How acute is the coronary occlusion?

In this ECG Cases blog we look at 10 patients with potentially ischemic symptoms. Which had a coronary occlusion, and how acute were they? Jesse McLaren explains 'Late STEMI' and how reperfusion strategies should not be based on time of symptom onset...

ECG Cases 1: Missed Ischemia – Never Trust the ECG Computer Interpretation

In EM Cases' first ECG Cases blog we review 7 examples of ECGs of patients presenting to the ED with chest pain, who's ECG were read as normal by the computer. And guess what...they all show acute ischemia!

WTBS 16 Listening for the QI Signal in the Noise of ED Return Visits: Focus on Missed MI

Jesse McLaren outlines 10 Quality Improvement (QI) opportunities for reducing missed AMIs and the lessons learned from Ontario’s Emergency Department Return Visit Quality Program in this Waiting to Be Seen blog...

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