torsades de pointes
Twisting heart rhythm
Torsades de pointes is a potentially fatal heart arrhythmia in which the heartbeat becomes rapid and irregular, with the pattern on an electrocardiogram appearing to twist around the baseline.
The French name means "twisting of the points." It can degenerate into ventricular fibrillation and cardiac arrest.
Various medications and electrolyte imbalances can trigger it.
- torsadeTwisted ornamental strand
- polymorphicHaving multiple forms
- tachycardiaExcessively fast pulse
- magnesiumAlkaline earth metal
- arrhythmiaAbnormal cardiac rhythm
electrocardiogram · repolarization · quinidine · long QT syndrome · QT prolongation · ventricles · action potential · haloperidol · ECG · erythromycin · flatline · drug-induced · fibrillation · potassium · palpitations · electrolyte · spiraling · fainting
- arrhythmiasatrial fibrillation, A-fib, afib, arrhythmia, ventricular fibrillation
- cardiotoxicityarrhythmia, arrhythmias, heart failure, cardiomyopathy, myocarditis
- tachycardiasMAT, POTS