Ventricular Fibrillation
V-fib occurs when disorganized electrical signals make the ventricles quiver instead of pump normally. Without the ventricles pumping blood out to the body, a person will lose consciousness within seconds and will die within minutes if not treated. To prevent death, the condition must be treated immediately with defibrillation, an electric shock to the heart. V-fib may happen during or after a heart attack, or in a heart that is already weak because of another condition. Health experts think that most of the sudden cardiac deaths that occur every year (about 335,000) are due to v-fib.
The animation below shows ventricular fibrillation. Click the "start" button to play the animation. Written and spoken explanations are provided with each frame. Use the buttons in the lower right corner to pause, restart, or replay the animation, or use the scroll bar below the buttons to move through the frames.
The animation shows how disorganized electrical signals in the heart’s ventricles can cause them to pump abnormally and quiver.
Torsades de pointes (torsades) is a specific form of v-fib with a unique pattern on an EKG (electrocardiogram). Certain medicines and imbalanced amounts of potassium, calcium, or magnesium in the bloodstream can cause this condition. People with a particular finding on an EKG test, called prolonged QT interval, are at increased risk of developing torsades. People with prolonged QT interval need to be careful about taking certain antibiotics, heart medicines, and over-the-counter medicines.
Elements of this page courtesy of: National Heart & Lung Institute