Hyperkalemia on ECG

ECG diagnosis: hyperkalemia.

Joel T Levis, MD, PhD, FACEP, FAAEM, is a Senior Emergency Physician at the Santa Clara Medical Center, and Clinical Instructor of Emergency Medicine (Surgery) at Stanford University. He is the Medical Director for the Foothill College Paramedic Program in Los Altos, CA. E-mail: [email protected]. Figure 1. 12-lead ECG from an 82-year-old man with acute renal failure and hyperkalemia (serum pot...

Warning: The ECG May Be Normal in Severe Hyperkalemia

A 77-year-old man with chronic kidney disease was admitted to our hospital due to acute kidney injury and hyperkalemia (serum potassium, 8.5 mEq/L) with a normal ECG finding (Picture 1). Hyperkalemia was caused by tumor lysis syndrome from gastric cancer and medications, including enalapril, carvedilol, and spironolactone. His hyperkalemia improved following the discontinuation of these medicat...

Retrospective review of the frequency of ECG changes in hyperkalemia.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Experimentally elevated potassium causes a clear pattern of electrocardiographic changes, but, clinically, the reliability of this pattern is unclear. Case reports suggest patients with renal insufficiency may have no electrocardiographic changes despite markedly elevated serum potassium. In a prospective series, 46% of patients with hyperkalemia were noted to have ele...

Arrhythmias and ECG changes in life threatening hyperkalemia in older patients treated by potassium sparing drugs.

BACKGROUND Severe hyperkalemia is a life threatening condition that can cause fatal rhythm disturbance and terminal heart arrest. The most common cause of hyperkalemia in older patients is that of iatrogenic medication-related etiology due to associated polymorbidity, polypharmacy and reduced reserve metabolic capacity. The aim of this paper is to increase awareness in the clinicians of the ris...

MANAGEMENT OF SEVERE HYPERKALEMIA