ECG library
Acute pericarditis
advancedA 28-year-old with sharp chest pain that eases when leaning forward, one week after a viral illness.
25 mm/s · 10 mm/mV · synthetic tracing
100%
Calipers:2000 ms50.0 small boxes30 bpm if R-RDrag the orange markers. One small box = 40 ms.
Key findings
- Diffuse concave STE
- PR depression
- No reciprocal changes
- No territorial pattern
Learning points
- STEMI respects coronary territories; pericarditis ignores them.
- PR depression is the most specific everyday clue.
- The stakes of the distinction: thrombolysing pericarditis can cause tamponade.
Connected