The Wide QRS Tachycardia

Excerpt

The correct differentiation between a supraventricular and ventricular origin of a wide QRS tachycardia is of obvious diagnostic, therapeutic, and prognostic importance. In this issue, Stewart and colleagues ( 1 ) present a rather gloomy picture of the diagnostic ability of physicians initially managing patients with a wide QRS tachycardia. An incorrect diagnosis of supraventricular tachycardia was followed by treatment with verapamil with frequently deleterious results.

These mistakes unfortunately are made too often in both the United States and Europe (2, 3). Their occurrence stresses that a physician should only treat a patient with a wide QRS tachycardia when that