Bradycardia Flashcards
7 cards from real ACLS practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Bradycardia flashcards as text
A 70-year-old patient on digoxin presents with bradycardia and nausea. Digoxin toxicity is suspected. Which intervention is MOST specific to this cause?
Answer: Digoxin-specific antibody fragments (Digibind)
Digoxin-specific antibody fragments (Digibind/DigiFab) are the definitive antidote for life-threatening digoxin toxicity.
A patient with a permanent pacemaker is found to have a heart rate of 35 bpm. The ECG shows no pacing spikes. What is the most likely problem?
Answer: Battery depletion or pacemaker failure
Absence of pacing spikes in a pacemaker-dependent patient with extreme bradycardia suggests battery depletion or device failure.
Which of the following calcium channel blockers is most commonly associated with causing bradycardia and AV block?
Answer: Verapamil
Verapamil (a non-dihydropyridine calcium channel blocker) significantly slows AV conduction and can cause bradycardia and heart block.
After giving atropine for symptomatic bradycardia with no improvement, the provider initiates dopamine at 5 mcg/kg/min. The patient's heart rate rises to 72 bpm and BP improves. What should be done next?
Answer: Arrange for expert consultation and possible transvenous pacing
A patient stabilized on a dopamine infusion still requires expert consultation to determine the need for transvenous pacing or other definitive treatment.
A patient presents with complete heart block. On the ECG, the ventricular escape rate is 25 bpm and QRS complexes are wide. Which statement is most accurate?
Answer: This rhythm indicates an infranodal block and requires pacing
A slow wide-complex escape rhythm in complete heart block indicates infranodal block, which does not respond to atropine and requires pacing.
Which of the following best describes 'pacemaker-mediated tachycardia' that can complicate dual-chamber pacemaker therapy?
Answer: A reentrant tachycardia where the pacemaker participates in the circuit
Pacemaker-mediated tachycardia is a reentrant loop where retrograde conduction through the AV node is sensed by the atrial lead and triggers repetitive ventricular pacing.
An athlete with symptomatic bradycardia (HR 36 bpm) is found to have high vagal tone as the cause. Which statement about this scenario is most accurate in the ACLS context?
Answer: If symptomatic, treatment follows the standard ACLS bradycardia algorithm regardless of cause
Regardless of the underlying cause, if bradycardia produces hemodynamic compromise, the standard ACLS bradycardia algorithm applies.