Ventricular fibrillation (synonyms: ventricular fibrillation; ventricular arrhythmia; ventricular tachyarrhythmia; ICD-10-GM I49.0: ventricular flutter and ventricular fibrillation) is a cardiac arrhythmia in which there is a tachycardic arrhythmia of the heart with a heart rate > 320/minute that is life-threatening. The excitations in the heart chambers run in a disordered fashion and the myocardium (heart muscle) also no longer contracts in an orderly fashion. The electrical excitation constantly circles in the heart muscle, so that it no longer has a resting phase. The pumping function of the heart comes to a standstill. The patient is pulseless.
In ventricular flutter, there is a stimulation disorder that belongs to the group of ventricular arrhythmias.
Furthermore, ventricular arrhythmias include ventricular tachycardia (VT) and ventricular flutter.
Ventricular fibrillation is responsible for approximately 5-10% of sudden cardiac deaths annually.
Course and Prognosis: Ventricular fibrillation commonly occurs in patients with organic heart disease. If left untreated, ventricular fibrillation leads to death. Ventricular fibrillation must be treated by immediate defibrillation. The chances of survival are higher the earlier resuscitation efforts are started. For every minute that passes without defibrillation, the chance of survival decreases by approximately 10%.
The lethality (mortality based on the total number of people with the disease) of untreated ventricular fibrillation is 100% (without defibrillation).
