ECG artifacts during monitoring

ECG artifacts during monitoring

ECG artifacts during monitoring could be caused by body movement and intermittent skin-electrode contact, rapid manipulation of a recording electrode on the skin and by electrical interference from equipments like suction, cautery, ventilator and due to poor earthing or electrical isolation.

Clinical consequences of misdiagnosis of ECG due to artifacts could be unnecessary medical therapies, precordial thump or cardioversion, implantation of a pacemaker, placement of ICD or transfer to higher centre.

Characteristics that differentiate artifact from a ventricular tachycardia

The features which help to differentiate an artifact mimicking ventricular tachycardia from a true ventricular tachycardia are the absence of hemodynamic deterioration, presence of normal QRS complexes within the artifact, unstable baseline on the ECG and association with body movement.

Artifacts can simulate ventricular tachycardia, supraventricular tachycardia, Mobitz type II AV block and sinus arrest.