Electrocardiographic Artifact

To the Editor: Knight et al. (Oct. 21 issue) 1 describe electrocardiographic artifacts that mimic ventricular tachycardia and the consequences of this phenomenon on patient care. At our institution as well, too many artifacts are misread as ventricular tachycardia, with unnecessary interventions and prolonged cardiac monitoring performed as a result. In educating our house staff and other colleagues on the recognition of this type of artifact, we have found it useful to point out an electrocardiographic sign that is frequently present in pseudo–ventricular tachycardia as a result of artifact. The “notches sign,” which is visible in the illustrations in the article . . .