A 70-year-old man is seen in the clinic because of breathlessness, which began over a few days 3 months ago. This is his ECG: what does it show and what treatment is needed?
This patient has second degree block and right bundle branch block, so he clearly has extensive conduction tissue disease.
The slow heart rate is probably the cause of his heart failure, and he needs a permanent pacemaker. The story suggests that the onset of heart failure was not associated with chest pain, so the underlying disease is probably fibrosis of the conducting system rather than ischaemia. He needs an echocardiogram and treatment with an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor if there is evidence of left ventricular dysfunction.
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