Ventricular Tachycardia Mnemonic: VT ACED

Memorize these six criteria, then apply them to the strips below.

• Very wide QRS (>160ms) strongly favors
• Total concordance (V1-V6 all deflect the same direction) strongly favors
• AV dissociation (P waves marching independently of QRS) pathognomonic
• Capture and fusion beats (narrow or hybrid beats during the run) pathognomonic
• Extreme axis (northwest axis, between -90° and +180°) strongly favors
• Doesn't fit typical BBB (bizarre morphology, no classic rsR' or rS) strongly favors

View full EKG criteria reference

Acknowledgements

EKG images sourced from Wikimedia Commons, ECGpedia (CC BY-SA 3.0), LITFL, ECG Wave-Maven (Harvard/BIDMC), ECG Learning Center (Utah), theSimTech, and open-access publications via PubMed Central.

For educational use only. Not a substitute for clinical judgment.