Chest Thump for Reverting Ventricular Tachycardia

A sharp precordial thump was employed to terminate 12 episodes of ventricular tachycardia (VT) in five patients with coronary heart disease, demonstrating that 93 per cent of episodes are reversed with energies of 10 w sec or less.

Abstract

A sharp precordial thump was employed to terminate 12 episodes of ventricular tachycardia (VT) in five patients with coronary heart disease. A precordial thump, through electromechanical transduction, provides a low energy current that depolarizes a re-entry pathway, the probable basis for most cases of clinical VT. Indeed, analysis of cardioversion energies for VT has demonstrated that 93 per cent of episodes are reversed with energies of 10 w sec or less. Chest thump is an important maneuver for treating cardiac arrest initiated by VT.