A patient is brought into the emergency department without a pulse and the cardiac monitor shows a specific rhythm. Which condition does this indicate?

The correct choice indicates that the patient is experiencing ventricular tachycardia (VT), which is characterized by a fast heart rhythm originating from the ventricles. In the context of a patient without a pulse, this rhythm can lead to a state where the heart does not pump effectively, resulting in a lack of perfusion and subsequent cardiac arrest.

Ventricular tachycardia can produce a pulse in some cases, commonly when it is stable, but when it becomes unstable or the heart rate is excessively high, it can lead to pulselessness. In the emergency setting, identifying VT is crucial because it requires immediate intervention, which may include administering synchronized cardioversion or, in cases where the patient is pulseless, performing defibrillation.

The other conditions listed hold different implications: ventricular fibrillation, which is a chaotic and ineffective rhythm that also results in no pulse, would require immediate defibrillation but presents differently on the monitor. Atrial fibrillation is an irregularly irregular rhythm that typically does not result in a pulseless state unless there are other complicating factors. Asystole, which indicates a complete absence of electrical activity in the heart, would also show no discernible rhythm on the cardiac monitor, leading to