Bizarre T Waves: What Do They Mean?

Alexander Bracey; H Pendell Meyers; Stephen W Smith

doi:10.1016/j.jaccas.2021.06.032

Bizarre T Waves: What Do They Mean?

JACC Case Rep. 2021 Sep 1;3(11):1376-1378. doi: 10.1016/j.jaccas.2021.06.032.

Authors

Alexander Bracey¹, H Pendell Meyers², Stephen W Smith^{3

4}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Emergency Medicine, Division of Critical Care, Albany Medical Center, Albany, New York, USA.
² Department of Emergency Medicine, Carolinas Medical Center, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA.
³ Department of Emergency Medicine, Hennepin County Medical Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
⁴ University of Minnesota Medical Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.

Abstract

Electrocardiographic artifacts are common and may often interfere with interpretation. We describe a case of bizarre appearing T waves. The left arm electrode was placed near a pulsatile fistula, which created an artery pulse tapping artifact. When encountering unexpected electrocardiographic findings, inspection of the electrocardiogram and lead placement may identify the cause. (Level of Difficulty: Intermediate.).

Keywords: ECG; ECG, electrocardiogram; STE, ST-segment elevation; artery pulse tapping artifact; artifact.