Patient was educated on signs and symptoms of ventricular fibrillation as follows:
- Chest pain
- Compromised blood circulation to the heart muscle can occur, resulting in episodes of chest pain.
- Shortness of breath
- Reduced oxygenated blood supply to vital organs can also result in shortness of breath and dyspnea.
- Swelling of extremities
- The ineffective and rapid contractions of the lower chambers of the heart result in reduced emptying of the ventricles and compromised pumping of blood into circulation.
- Back up of blood in the ventricular chambers can lead to increased blood volume and pressure in the ventricular chambers, resulting in enlargement of the heart, progressive weakening of heart muscle, and heart failure.
- Patients can present with symptoms of heart failure, such as, fluid retention in the chest leading to difficulty in gas exchange in the lungs, swelling of the extremities with pitting edema, and grossly limited exercise tolerance with exacerbation of episodes of shortness of breath.
- Patients also can present with progressively reduced output from the heart and consequently, reduced blood supply to the vital organs.
- Palpitations
- Abnormally fast heart rate can result in palpitations and pressure in the chest.
