Bennett's Cardiac Arrhythmias: Practical Notes on Interpretation and Treatment, 8th Edition

A trusted source for junior doctors, students, nurses and cardiac technicians for over 30 years, the new edition of this classic reference continues the winning formula of previous editions while at the same time incorporating essential new content on today’s most important clinical topics, including:

• Atrial fibrillation: ablation, drugs, rate control versus rhythm control, risk of systemic embolism, prognosis
• Indications for and management of implantable defibrillators including complications such as arrhythmia storms
• Indications for pacemaker implantation
• Anticoagulant therapy (for atrial fibrillation)
• Long QT syndromes and other channelopathies
• Recently-approved anti-arrhythmia drugs

The 8th edition also features the latest guidelines on ECG screening of athletes and clear guidance for anaesthetists and surgeons dealing with patients with arrhythmias an/or implantable devices.
Rich with example ECGs and designed for ease of access to information, Bennett’s Cardiac Arrhythmias is the reference you can trust to help you master arrhythmia diagnosis and provide optimal treatment of any patient under your care.

1 Sinus Rhythm, 1

ECG characteristics, 1

Sinus bradycardia, 4

Sinus tachycardia, 4

Sinus arrhythmia, 5

2 Ectopic Beats, 6

Prematurity, 6

Atrial ectopic beats, 8

Atrioventricular junctional ectopic beats, 9

Ventricular ectopic beats, 10

3 Escape Beats, 15

Timing, 15

Origins, 16

4 Bundle Branch and Fascicular Blocks, 17

Right bundle branch block, 17

Left bundle branch block, 18

Left anterior and posterior fascicular blocks, 19

5 The Supraventricular Tachycardias, 24

Main types, 24

Atrial origin versus atrioventricular re-entry, 25

Effects of supraventricular tachycardias, 26

6 Atrial Fibrillation, 29

ECG characteristics, 29

Causes, 33

Prevalence, 34

Prognosis, 34

Classification, 34

Management, 35

Systemic embolism, 35

Rhythm management, 38

7 Atrial Flutter, 44

Common atrial flutter, 44

Causes, 49

Prevalence, 49

Treatment, 49

Systemic embolism, 51

8 Atrial Tachycardia, 52

ECG characteristics, 52

Causes, 54

Treatment, 55

Multifocal atrial tachycardia, 55

9 Atrioventricular Junctional Re-entrant Tachycardias, 56

Mechanism, 56

ECG characteristics, 57

Clinical features, 62

Treatment, 63

10 Wolff–Parkinson–White Syndrome, 67

Pre-excitation, 67

ECG characteristics, 68

Arrhythmias, 69

Treatment, 72

11 Ventricular Tachyarrhythmias, 77

Ventricular tachycardia, 77

Ventricular fibrillation, 78

Supraventricular versus ventricular tachycardia, 78

12 Monomorphic Ventricular Tachycardia, 79

ECG characteristics, 79

Causes, 81

Mechanisms of ventricular tachycardias, 81

Investigations, 83

Treatment, 85

Coronary heart disease, 88

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, 88

Arrhythmogenic right ventricular

cardiomyopathy, 89

Dilated cardiomyopathy, 92

Ventricular tachycardias not due to structural heart disease, 92

Non-sustained ventricular tachycardia, 97

Accelerated idioventricular rhythm, 97

13 Polymorphic Ventricular Tachycardia and Ventricular Fibrillation, 98

Polymorphic ventricular tachycardia, 98

Torsade de pointes tachycardia, 99

Hereditary long QT syndromes, 102

Ventricular fibrillation, 106

14 Tachycardias with Broad Ventricular Complexes, 115

Causes of a broad complex tachycardia, 115

Useless guidelines, 116

Useful guidelines, 116

15 Atrioventricular Block, 123

Classification, 123

Causes of atrioventricular block, 127

Atrioventricular dissociation, 128

Bilateral bundle branch disease, 128

Clinical aspects of atrioventricular block, 130

Treatment, 131

16 Sick Sinus Syndrome, 132

Causes, 132

ECG characteristics, 133

Clinical features, 135

Diagnosis, 135

Treatment, 136

17 Neurally Mediated Syncope, 137

Malignant vasovagal syndrome, 137

Carotid sinus syndrome, 141

Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, 141

Causes of syncope, 142

18 Arrhythmias due to Myocardial Infarction, 143

Ventricular fibrillation, 144

Ventricular tachycardia, 146

Reperfusion arrhythmias, 146

Arrhythmias subsequent to recent myocardial infarction, 146

Long-term significance of ventricular arrhythmias, 147

Accelerated idioventricular rhythm, 147

Supraventricular tachycardias, 148

Sinus and junctional bradycardias, 148

Atrioventricular block, 149

19 Antiarrhythmic Drugs, 152

Limitations, 152

Choice of treatment, 153

Modes of action, 153

Notes on individual drugs, 154

Antiarrhythmic drugs during pregnancy, 166

20 Sudden Cardiac Death, 167

Definition, 167

Causes of arrhythmic sudden death, 168

Aborted sudden cardiac death, 169

Athletic activities, 169

21 Cardioversion, 171

Transthoracic cardioversion, 171

Transvenous cardioversion, 174

22 Ambulatory ECG Monitoring, 176

Continuous ECG recording, 176

Intermittent ECG recording, 183

23 Cardiac Pacing, 187

Long-term cardiac pacing, 187

Common indications for long-term pacing, 187

Pacing modes, 190

Pacemaker hardware, 200

Pacemaker implantation, 202

Pacemaker clinic, 215

Electromagnetic interference, 215

Other precautions, 217

Temporary cardiac pacing, 218

24 Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators, 221

Defibrillator implantation, 223

Indications for ICD implanation, 224

Defibrillator function, 226

Precautions, 233

25 Catheter Ablation, 234

Procedure, 234

Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome, 237

Typical atrioventricular nodal re-entrant tachycardia, 241

Atrial tachycardia, 243

Atrial flutter, 244

Atrial fibrillation, 244

Atrioventricular nodal ablation, 245

Right ventricular outflow tract tachycardia, 247

Fascicular ventricular tachycardia, 248

Ventricular tachycardia due to structural heart disease, 249

Catheter ablation: what should the patient expect? 250

26 Arrhythmias for Interpretation, 252

Questions, 252

Interpretations and answers, 307

Index, 317