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Robert P. Croke, MD; KAMLESH V. BULCHANDANI, MD; William R. Jacobs, MS, MD; HENRY S. Loeb, MD
Veterans Administration Edward Hines, Jr, Hospital Hines, III Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine Maywood, III

JAMA. 1976;235(7):705-706.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.—

Electrocardiographic artifacts mimicking cardiac arrhythmias have been reported^1-3 with increasing frequency since the wide-spread application of ECG monitoring in the care of critically ill patients. We are reporting an artifact that mimicked atrial flutter and resulted in the detection and correction of equipment malfunction that might otherwise have escaped attention.

Report of a Case.—

A 53-year-old man with coronary heart disease was admitted for palpitations and an irregular pulse. The initial rhythm strip showed sinus rhythm, premature atrial contractions and pairs of premature ventricular contractions. An intravenous lidocaine infusion was begun at a rate of 2 mg/min, with the use of a peristalic pump (model 530, I VAC Corp, San Diego, Calif). Shortly thereafter, the rhythm strip shown in panel A (Figure) was recorded. Normal P waves accompanied the "flutter" waves, suggesting artifact. Acceleration of the pump resulted in acceleration of the "atrial activity" (strip B), . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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