EemDocs - September 06, 2021 - By Rachel Lynn Graves and Gillian Bach
Reviewed by: Edward Lew; Alex Koyfman; Brit Long
“Take Home Points:
- Patients with pre-existing cardiovascular disease, particularly structural heart disease and older patients (defined as age 65 and older, to error on the side of inclusion) are at risk for life-threatening complications following cardioversion. Be prepared to manage complications when cardioverting these patients.
- Patients with pre-excitation syndromes may have bizarre QRS complexes that are difficult to distinguish from T waves, which can lead to asynchronous shock delivery and the development of VF.
- All but the lowest risk patients should be anticoagulated prior to and following cardioversion unless they have a direct contraindication”