Video - Ventricular tachycardia

Ventricular tachycardia is a type of tachycardia, or a rapid heartbeat that arises from improper electrical activity of the heart presenting as a rapid heart rhythm that starts in the ventricles. There are two main types of ventricular tachycardia: monomorphic, and polymorphic ventricular tachycardias.

In monomorphic ventricular tachycardia, all the beats look the same because the impulse is either being generated from increased automaticity of a single point in either the left or the right ventricle, or due to a reentry circuit within the ventricle. Polymorphic ventricular tachycardia, on the other hand, is most commonly caused by abnormalities of ventricular muscle repolarization. Ventricular tachycardia is a potentially life-threatening arrhythmia because it can cause low blood pressure and may lead to ventricular fibrillation, asystole, and sudden death. Ventricular tachycardia ranges between 100 and 250 bpm.