Induction of wide QRS tachycardia during transthoracic echocardiography.
A wide QRS tachycardia was repeatedly triggered during transthoracic echocardiographic examination in a critically ill premature infant with bilateral chest tubes. The left-sided tube was anterior to the heart. The arrhythmia was not induced after removal of the chest tubes at the follow-up ultrasonographic evaluation. Compression of the thoracic wall and chest tube, and subsequently the heart, by the ultrasound transducer is postulated as the cause for this wide QRS tachycardia.
Casta
A
A
Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston 77550.
D015505:Chest Tubes; D004374:Ductus Arteriosus, Patent / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D004452:Echocardiography / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D013610:Tachycardia / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology