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PEA cause...the power of EKG

Electrocardiography can be a powerful tool in the  urgent evaluation of pulseless electrical activity. 
Narrow QRS complex pulseless electrical activity is often caused by mechanical factors such as cardiac  tamponade, tension pneumothorax, pulmonary embolism, and major hemorrhage.
 Pulseless electrical activity associated with a wide QRS complex and marked axis deviation, as in this patient, is usually the result of a metabolic abnormality, most often hyperkalemia

  1. Mehta C, Brady W. Pulseless electrical activity in cardiac arrest: electrocardiographic presentations and manage- ment considerations based on the electrocardiogram. Am J Emerg Med 2012; 30:236–239. 


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