A 35 y/o male is seen by his physician complaining of shortness of breath, dizzi

Question

A 35 y/o male is seen by his physician complaining of shortness of breath, dizziness, intermittent palpitations and chest pain. The Px has a history of paroxysmal atrial dysrhythmia and has been taking 400 mg/3x/day quinidine over the past year. He has not had an episode since going on the medication. The Px lives alone and is the CEO of a local software company. He states that he recently suffered a serious bout of the flu where he experienced diarrhea and vomiting for five days. However, he has been feeling better, started taking his medication again and returned to work the previous day. The physical tests shows that he is alert, but is experiencing dizziness. His respiration is 28 breaths/min but lung sounds are clear in all lobes. He has normal bowel sounds, yet is complaining of nausea. His pulse is 150 and irregular with a BP of 102/56. His nailbeds are pink and his O2 stats are 96.

His blood work shows: Na+= 135 mEq/L K+= 2.9 mEq/L Cl-= 96 mEq/L BUN = 29 mg/dL Creatinine = 1.3 mg/dL Glucose= 100 mg/dL (fasting)

a) From the data shown above, what is causing his most recent arrhythmia? Defend the answer

Explanation / Answer

Cardiac arrhythmia is due to hypokalemia

Normal potassium levels are 3.5-5.0 mEq/L whereas its level in patient's blood is only 2.9 mEq/L.

Justfication

and characteristic ventricular fibrillation pattern is seen in ECG .

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