ECG challenge: a narrow clue in a wide QRS tachycardia
Akihiko Nogami, Ryuichi Usui, Kikuya Uno, Stefano Bordignon · 2026
Read ECG challenge: a narrow clue in a wide QRS tachycardia by Akihiko Nogami, Ryuichi Usui, Kikuya Uno, Stefano Bordignon (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/pmc-13582023.txt.
Description
An ECG challenge walks readers through a tricky heart tracing from a 57-year-old woman who had briefly fainted. Her electrocardiogram showed a fast, wide-complex rhythm at about 134 beats per minute with a right bundle branch block pattern. Scattered narrower beats hinted at harmless capture beats from a ventricular rhythm. Careful reading instead showed atrial activity before every beat.
An electrical study of the heart then confirmed an atrial tachycardia, with the wide shape coming from a temporary conduction delay in one bundle. Akihiko Nogami and co-authors use the case to show how one narrow clue can overturn the first diagnosis.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Akihiko Nogami, Ryuichi Usui, Kikuya Uno, Stefano Bordignon |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 7 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |