Podcast 568: Shock ‘em! 

<p><strong>Contributor: John Winkler, MD</strong></p> <p><strong>Educational Pearls:</strong></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Unstable ventricular tachycardia (VT) typically manifests with syncope, shortness of breath, diaphoresis and/or chest pain with hemodynamic instability</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Electrical cardioversion of unstable ventricular tachycardia is first line treatment</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Starting with a higher energy level (or just using the maximum) when performing cardioversion may set you up for better success as many providers feel the first shock has the highest likelihood of success</span></li> </ul> <p><strong>References</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Dresen, W.F. Ferguson, J.D. Ventricular Arrhythmias.</span> <a href= "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Cardiol+Clin.+2018+Feb%3B36(1)%3A129-139"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Cardiol Clin.</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">2018 Feb;36(1):129-139. doi: 10.1016/j.ccl.2017.08.007. Epub 2017 Oct 27.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Goyal, A.</span> <em><span style="font-weight: 400;">et al</span></em><span style= "font-weight: 400;">. Synchronized Electrical Cardioversion.StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2020-. 2020 Feb 13.</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Summarized by Jackson Roos, MS3 | Edited by Erik Verzemnieks, MD</span></em></p> <p><br /> <br /></p>