Premature ventricular complexes can quickly progress to which life-threatening rhythm?

Premature ventricular complexes can quickly progress to which life-threatening rhythm?

• A. Ventricular Fibrillation
• B. Atrial Fibrillation
• C. Sinus Tachycardia
• D. Normal Sinus Rhythm

Answer: (A)

PVCs come from an ectopic focus in the ventricles, so they can interrupt the normal sequence of beats. When a PVC lands during the heart’s vulnerable period of repolarization or occurs in rapid, repetitive patterns, it can trigger a circuit or afterdepolarizations that destabilize the ventricles. The result can be ventricular fibrillation, a chaotic, uncoordinated ventricular activity that stops effective pumping and is immediately life-threatening. Atrial fibrillation involves the atria, not a direct product of ventricular ectopy; sinus tachycardia is just a faster but regular sinus rhythm; normal sinus rhythm is simply the baseline.