Archives de Médecine Interne Générale

Abstrait

Cardioversion and its Medication

Yasaman Emad

Cardioversion may be a procedure by which an abnormally fast pulse (tachycardia) or other arrhythmia is converted to a traditional rhythm using electricity or drugs. Synchronized electrical cardioversion uses a therapeutic dose of electrical current to the guts at a selected moment within the cycle, restoring the activity of the conduction system of the guts. (Defibrillation uses a therapeutic dose of electrical current to the guts at a random moment within the cycle, and is that the best resuscitation measure for asystole related to fibrillation and pulseless ventricular tachycardia.) Pharmacologic cardioversion, also called chemical cardioversion, uses antiarrhythmia medication rather than an electric shock.