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What is it called when the heart has no electrical activity?
Asystole (ay-sis-stuh-lee) is when there’s no electricity or movement in your heart. That means you don’t have a heartbeat. It’s also known as flatline. That’s because doctors check the rhythm of your heart with a machine called an electrocardiogram — also called an ECG or EKG.
What is the absence of electrical activity?
Pulseless electrical activity (PEA) is a clinical condition characterized by unresponsiveness and the lack of a palpable pulse in the presence of organized cardiac electrical activity. Pulseless electrical activity has previously been referred to as electromechanical dissociation (EMD).
What is a pulseless electrical activity?
Pulseless electrical activity (PEA), also known as electromechanical dissociation, is a clinical condition characterized by unresponsiveness and impalpable pulse in the presence of sufficient electrical discharge.
What can cause PEA?
PEA is always caused by a profound cardiovascular insult (eg, severe prolonged hypoxia or acidosis or extreme hypovolemia or flow-restricting pulmonary embolus). The initial insult weakens cardiac contraction, and this situation is exacerbated by worsening acidosis, hypoxia, and increasing vagal tone.
Does no pulse mean no heartbeat?
A weak pulse means you have difficulty feeling a person’s pulse (heartbeat). An absent pulse means you cannot detect a pulse at all.
Can you shock pulseless electrical activity?
Rhythms that are not amenable to shock include pulseless electrical activity (PEA) and asystole. In these cases, identifying primary causation, performing good CPR, and administering epinephrine are the only tools you have to resuscitate the patient.
How do you identify pulseless electrical activity?
Pseudo-PEA can be detected in the absence of a palpable pulse by:
- arterial line placement during cardiac arrest (identified by the presence of a blood pressure)
- high ETCO2 readings in intubated patients.
- echocardiography or Doppler ultrasound demonstrating cardiac pulsatility.
Can you defibrillate pulseless electrical activity?
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Asystole is treated identically to PEA. These two rhythms do not require defibrillation (asystole has no electrical activity whereas PEA is an organized electrical rhythm).
What is the treatment of PEA?
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is the first treatment for PEA, while potential underlying causes are identified and treated. The medication epinephrine may be administered. Survival is about 20%.
Can you defibrillate PEA?
Ts. Rhythms that are not amenable to shock include pulseless electrical activity (PEA) and asystole. In these cases, identifying primary causation, performing good CPR, and administering epinephrine are the only tools you have to resuscitate the patient.