A dog with ventricular fibrillation could be implanted with a pacemaker to allow it to survive. Group of answer choices True False
The correct answer and explanation is:
The correct answer is False.
Ventricular fibrillation (VF) is a life-threatening cardiac arrhythmia where the ventricles of the heart quiver ineffectively instead of contracting properly. This chaotic electrical activity prevents the heart from pumping blood, leading to rapid loss of consciousness and death if not treated immediately. In VF, the heart’s normal rhythm is completely disrupted.
A pacemaker is a device designed to regulate a slow or irregular heart rhythm by sending electrical impulses to stimulate the heart to beat at an appropriate rate. Pacemakers are effective for conditions such as bradycardia (slow heart rate) or certain types of heart block where the heart beats too slowly or irregularly but still has organized electrical activity.
However, ventricular fibrillation is a very rapid, disorganized rhythm with no effective contractions. In such cases, a pacemaker cannot restore a normal rhythm because it does not have the capability to “reset” the chaotic electrical signals in the ventricles. Instead, the treatment for ventricular fibrillation requires immediate defibrillation — delivering a high-energy electrical shock to the heart to stop the fibrillation and allow the heart’s natural pacemaker to reestablish a normal rhythm.
In veterinary medicine, similar to human medicine, ventricular fibrillation is an emergency condition requiring immediate intervention such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and defibrillation if available. Implanting a pacemaker is not an appropriate treatment for VF because it cannot control or stop the disorganized electrical activity causing the fibrillation.
In summary, a pacemaker cannot be used to allow survival in a dog with ventricular fibrillation. The appropriate response involves emergency resuscitation and defibrillation to restore a normal heartbeat.